Students of the Higher Level Training Cycle in Education and Environmental Control of the CIFP Zonzamas have gone to Argana Alta to photograph, geolocate, classify and denounce the waste from the illegal landfills that exist in the capital's neighborhood, which has almost 10,000 inhabitants.
The students point out that the uncontrolled deposition of waste continues to plague the neighborhood despite the countless neighborhood complaints in recent years. They assure that the surroundings of Argana Alta are "full of rubble and belongings", among other waste.
"Scrap metal, furniture, electronic devices and construction material frame the outskirts of the largest neighborhood on the island," detail the students, who also point out that all this coexists with the fauna, such as the stone curlews, and the flora, such as the tabaibas, which are present within the emblematic jable pass. "The residents of this Lanzarote neighborhood carry out their daily activities near dumps and rats," they denounce.
The students divided the area into three transects that were traveled, cataloged and photographed in order to geolocate said waste, which is distributed along the path "Diseminado Argana Alta-Calle Campoamor, Calle Campoamor-Cementerio, Cementerio-Protectora Sara".
Among the waste, the students highlight the construction site debris, construction material and tiles, and other objects that can be deposited free of charge at the Clean Point located less than 2 kilometers away, such as televisions, armchairs and mattresses. The students denounce that this occurs despite the fact that the City Council has also installed a free furniture collection telephone.
The students denounce that the uncontrolled deposits of rubble and belongings in the Argana Alta area "are a problem for the health of the residents, as well as for its fauna enclave, with the outskirts of this Lanzarote neighborhood being part of the jable pass and harboring a large number of protected species in its vicinity".
In the highest areas and close to the Zonzamas environmental complex, plastics such as bags or wrappers and containers such as cans and glass bottles of alcoholic beverages proliferate, according to the students of the CIFP Zonzamas. This situation causes "a great impact on the fauna", generating the trapping of species, something that "lizards and some insects" suffer too much. On the other hand, the students point out that, entering the trophic chain of birds, it is common to find large groups of seagulls "feeding on plastics in the area."
From the Higher Level Training Cycle in Education and Environmental Control, they request a response from the relevant authorities and a short and long-term solution for the maintenance of protected spaces, as well as "a defense of the island's biodiversity and a commitment to citizens and the environment."
