Ecologistas en Acción presented allegations to the request of the entity Industrial Canarias de Forjados SL for the extraction of sand in the area of the warrior sandpit in Hoya de La Plata, in El Jable, within the municipality of Teguise.
In the document to which La Voz has had access, the Ecologist Association asks that the concession of the exploitation be denied "for being incompatible with the current urban planning" and that it ensures the protection of this space until there is a Natural Resources Management Plan of Lanzarote (PORN).
The association in defense of the environment points out that the largest instrument of ordering of the island, the Insular Plan of Territorial Ordering of Lanzarote, of the year 2001, "is not adapted to the current legislation". In addition, it emphasizes that said plan "is not configured as a Natural Resources Management Plan and, therefore, has no competence for the management of said resources", as is the case of the Jable area.
Ecologistas en Acción is supported by the Natural Resources Management Plan of the Chinijo Archipelago and Famara, recently approved and which does incorporate this space as a special protection area for birds (SPA). In their opinion and based on said plan, "the entire surface of the plot in which the extraction of aggregates is intended to be developed" is within a protected area, belonging "to the Natura 2,000 Network".
So that these spaces, which in the Insular Ordering Plan of Lanzarote were included as "potentially productive land", are understood by the PORN of the Chinijo and Famara Archipelago as spaces where "impacts should be reduced" and prioritize environmental and ecological values.
For this reason, Ecologistas en Acción defends that "any mining extractive activity that does not have express authorization should be restricted, attending to strict limitations to reduce impacts and allow combining certain activity with environmental values and ecological requirements of the steppe species".
In this line, he adds that even in Lanzarote, where the aforementioned Natural Resources Management Plan (PORN) of the island does not exist, it should be the Island Council that ensures the protection of this space, adds Ecologistas en Acción. In this defense, it guarantees that until this instrument is developed, precaution should prevail in the form of precautionary protection of the space.
In the allegations presented to the project, it also requests that "all" existing mining concessions in this area be suspended until the extractions that have been abandoned are rehabilitated to avoid "a cumulative and synergistic effect". For this, it demands that the restoration plans of these spaces be executed.
Thus, the association in defense of the environment estimates that the Environmental Impact Study presented by the company must be "corrected" and must analyze "all environmental factors adequately", as well as attend to "non-subjective technical indicators and assessments".
The environmental group defends that "a specific assessment" be included on the effects on the cultural landscape of El Jable and a study for its recovery when the mining activity ends.
To conclude, it highlights the importance of pointing out as "negative" the environmental declaration when considering the "incompatibility of the requested activity" and reminds public administrations and the environmental body of the obligation to ensure the conservation of these spaces and their protected species.
