Oral tradition is one of the invisible treasures that each culture possesses, presented in the form of stories, riddles, or proverbs that are passed down from parents to children and from grandparents to grandchildren. The Spanish collection of proverbs is known for its richness and its **wide array of sayings** that define situations, feelings, or emotions, **many of them connected and related to elements of nature**.
This is why the Lanzarote Biosphere Reserve is working on the project Tapiz de Refranes to connect all biosphere reserves through the orality and proverbs of each place in the world, highlighting respect for nature and being aware of its limits.
Aquilino Miguélez, an ecologist and advisor to the Lanzarote Biosphere Reserve, explains in an interview with La Voz how Tapiz de Refranes came about and what the project aims to achieve. Miguélez observed the potential synergy between the Biosphere Reserve and environmental education, which led him to meet in 2020 with a professor from the University of Santiago de Compostela who was training environmental educators.
"We didn't know each other, and one of the phrases he told me that stayed with me for two nights was **'humanity doesn't want to understand that there are limits**, that we are part of and depend on nature, and that we are part of and depend on the rest of human society.'" After hearing it, this phrase has become the line of work that the ecologist defends.
As early as January 2021, Tapiz de Vocablos (Tapestry of Words) was drafted and approved, the prelude to Tapiz de Refranes (Tapestry of Proverbs), and the Ministry didn't quite know what to do with it. However, in 2023, Miguélez once again presented this project, which led to the one on paremias, that is, proverbs, at the annual meeting of Spanish reserves in 2023
Project Presentation in China
The *Tapestry of Sayings* was presented last September at the 5th World Congress of Biosphere Reserves, the first time it had left the Western sphere. Here, three global biosphere reserve networks from Spain, **island, mountain, and Mediterranean**.Miguélez, along with the rest of the team, participated in the network of islands which, in Spain's case, is made up of Menorca and Lanzarote, both of which were declared Biosphere Reserves simultaneously and in their entirety. "When you include all human activity within the reserve is when it truly becomes an experiment in **how to balance human development with respect for nature**," the ecologist points out
The word 'tapestry' incorporated into the project refers to the importance within ecology of the relationships between elements, but not only these, but rather "how matter flows in ecosystems depends heavily on these interconnected elements".
Proverbs Connected to Nature
The proverbs that this project highlights are those related to nature, such as the following related to water:
- No calm sea made a sailor expert
- The wave returns to the sea that made it
- When you drink water, remember the source
- Water is lent, not owned
- From the fallen tree, the new sprout is born
- He who cares for the land never goes hungry
"These sayings had a meaning in popular culture and we may now apply them differently, but they have a logical meaning and resonate in the human mind, each of them in their cultural sphere," he points outOrality is the resource alluded to with this initiative, and November 3, International Day of Biosphere Reserves, is marked on the calendar to preserve it. However, this day has only been celebrated since 2021, a very short time, so *Tapiz de Refranes* emerges as a way to commemorate this day.
Defending the original island culture
According to Aquilino Miguélez, Tapiz de Refranes is a way to "defend the original island culture because in the archipelago there was a perception of limits and it expresses very well that we depend on nature".
Thus, when we enter the Tourist Centers of Lanzarote, for example, we immediately "detect one limit or another," such as the temperature in Timanfaya, the cliff at the Mirador del Río, and the aquatic one in the volcanic tube of Jameos del Agua. "It's something you have to be careful about where you are, but it's attractive when you go to these places," he points out.
This project can serve so that each school, entity, municipality, or Biosphere Reserve in the Canary Islands can highlight island cultures so that any nationality that settles here knows where it is.
"There is a civilizational problem; the current world believes there are no limits and can continue to grow in all sorts of demands on the planet's nature, such as water, pollution, and minerals, but **there is a great risk to humanity** and the rest of living beings," Miguélez assures. Therefore, it is possible to defend nature using this tapestry.
The objective of the Biosphere Reserve team in Lanzarote is to present the project at the State Congress of Biosphere Reserves, which will be held in Spain in 2026, and for "other reserves in the country to join this initiative" because "orality is a very valuable source of information for rebalancing our role on the planet".
"Lanzarote is a bottle with a message thrown into the sea because limits were recognized here in 1991 and there has been a fight against illegal hotels... there is a closer perception of limits and you feel a belonging to nature," he assures.
