“La Graciosa and its surroundings will only survive as we know them, if we manage to preserve its nature and prevent it from becoming a mass tourism destination”. That is the message that WWF Canarias has launched on the occasion of World Nature Protection Day, in which it wanted to remember "the value of the Chinijo Archipelago as a refuge" for many species of the islands. That is why it has asked to "ensure the management of Chinijo to achieve a sustainable tourism model", which is compatible with its conservation.
"Every year hundreds of thousands of tourists disembark in the Chinijo Archipelago in search of paradisiacal beaches, beauty and tranquility, multiplying its population in the summer months. However, environmental pressure and the demand for resources threaten the conservation of the natural values of the island of La Graciosa and the islets of Alegranza and Montaña Clara and the Roques del Este and del Oeste", the association emphasizes.
In this regard, it recalls that with a high biological diversity, made up of more than 2,000 species between marine and terrestrial, as well as its geological and landscape importance, the Risco de Famara and the Chinijo Archipelago constitute "the most important terrestrial maritime protected natural space in the Canary Islands."
Declared as the first Natural Park in the Canary Islands, its waters harbor the greatest biodiversity of the archipelago with the greatest diversity of algae and fish, as well as the most important populations of deep-sea corals. In addition, it is the most important space for the conservation of birds of the islands and the fourth site in Europe in presence of endemic plants. "Together with El Hierro, Chinijo is the most important marine area in the Canary Islands, with 774 species", insists the environmental group.
"However, the natural space, which has been adding other figures of protection, maintains the same threats as after its declaration as a Natural Park in 1986: tourism pressure and marine pollution, both from currents and from garbage left by visitors on beaches and trails," WWF warns.
The key work of volunteering
Faced with this, it highlights that since 1998, some 1,950 volunteers have helped to conserve this Canarian ecosystem, together with the "work with public and private institutions to guarantee the good state of conservation" of this space. "This conservation, awareness and surveillance campaign has become the oldest and most lasting activity of WWF Spain's work in the Canary Islands," they emphasize.
"At this time when the rules of the Natural Park are still not being recovered, the participation of the different social actors in the conservation of the most important maritime-terrestrial space in the Canary Islands is more necessary than ever, as we intend with the realization of our 'Chinijo Campaign', which celebrates its 25 uninterrupted seasons this summer", explains Alexis Rivera, WWF conservation technician for activities with volunteers, as well as for the relationship with the public and private bodies responsible for the proper maintenance of the biodiversity of the Natural Park of the Chinijo Archipelago.
As Rivera explains, the work carried out has varied over the years, with activities linked to the fight against poaching of shearwater chicks, awareness and information for tourists, cleaning of coasts and seabeds, census of invertebrates, endemic and invasive plants and birds. In this last campaign, which was carried out for 2 and a half months, 50 volunteers participated within the Volunteer Program of the Autonomous Body of National Parks (OAPN) on the island of La Graciosa. “500 kilos of plastics and 5,000 kilos of debris were removed from its coasts, and we informed and raised environmental awareness directly to 5,000 tourists”, concludes Rivera.
