Canary Islands and State address the governance of the archipelago's marine coastline in Lanzarote

The Government of the Canary Islands, through the Ministry of Ecological Transition, Fight against Climate Change and Territorial Planning and the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, presented this Friday, November 25, in Arrecife the spatial planning plans of the marine demarcation of the Canary Islands and different tools for the planning and governance of the coastline during a day dedicated to the marine coastal space of the archipelago, developed in the Cabildo of Lanzarote.

The regional councilor of the Area, José Antonio Valbuena, pointed out at the inauguration of this meeting that “as of January 1, the Canary Islands will exercise the powers included in its Statute of Autonomy over the coastal space and will do so by applying the same law, but from closeness. We are preparing to assume coordinated management with the rest of the administrations and, for this, we have created the Marine Coastal Space of the Canary Islands, a very powerful tool that will allow us to have full communication with the sensitivities and problems of each municipality in the use of our coasts.”

“We have to organize ourselves by learning from past mistakes and prioritizing the protection of biodiversity because the sea, in addition to being a hallmark of the Canary Islands, is a great ally in order to achieve climate neutrality from the point of view of greenhouse gas emissions,” he said.

The vice president of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, Marcos Bergaz, indicated that “the Spatial Planning Plan of the Maritime Space of the Canary Islands establishes areas of high potential for different uses and activities. Among them is the conservation of biodiversity. In this sense, I trust that this tool will contribute effectively to the protection of the natural paradise of marine mammals that exists in the leeward waters of Lanzarote and Fuerteventura, where one in three known species of cetaceans is concentrated.”

The Deputy Director and Coordinator of the Maritime Spatial Planning Area, Marta Martínez-Gil, participated on behalf of the Ministry, who explained that, within the framework of the sustainable economy compatible with the conservation of the marine environment, the Ministry for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge has developed the Maritime Spatial Planning Plans in the five Spanish marine demarcations.

“These plans are the result of an intense process of inter-administrative collaboration and a process of participation of all interested actors and users of the marine environment, seeking, among all, the development of a sustainable blue economy that guarantees the good environmental status of the marine environment and that allows us to comply with the European green pact,” he said.

This conference has been developed within the framework of the 'MSP-OR: Advancing Maritime Spatial Planning in Outermost Regions' project, in which the Ministry of Ecological Transition and the Ministry collaborate, together with the Biodiversity Foundation of MITECO, the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and other partners from Spain, France and Portugal and which aims to support the competent authorities in matters of spatial and marine spatial planning in the establishment and adoption of the EU MSP Directive (2014/89/EU), as well as other plans and management instruments.

The computer tool 'Marine coastal space of the Canary Islands' was also presented during the course of the event, developed by the Government of the Canary Islands, which aims to promote the interaction of the actors involved organized in different themes and geographical areas, resulting in the coordination and feedback necessary for an effective implementation of marine spatial planning.