The Governing Board of the Biosphere Reserve Council met this Tuesday, February 7, at the Socio-cultural Center of Caleta de Famara, to analyze the study, deliberation and proposal processes to improve the management of this enclave, considering its enormous attractiveness, its consideration as a Natural Park and the intense social debate held last year through the participatory process promoted by the island corporation.
In this first ordinary session of the year, the Councilor of the Biosphere Reserve of Lanzarote, Nicolás Saavedra, recalled that this 2023 marks 30 years since obtaining this title, "which is not an award or a prize", but "a commitment and a responsibility" of citizens to assume a lifestyle that is sustainable.
In that sense, Saavedra stressed the importance of "harmonizing" the conservation of biological and cultural diversity and economic and social development, through the relationship of people with nature, from a balance between human beings and the environment.
To achieve that balance, in his opinion, participatory processes are an "indispensable tool" that allows giving voice to citizens as active and committed agents.
Analysis of impacts in El Jable
During this meeting, the study "Analysis of impacts in the El Jable-Famara environment" has also been presented, by the urban planner Jonathan Sicilia, promoted by the Department of Environment of the Cabildo of Lanzarote and financed by the Department of Geopark.
The document focuses on the drafting of a proactive guide based on the study of the main characteristics of the El Jable ecosystem, establishing in it a series of proposals to ensure the conservation of the species and spaces of this enclave, its culture and its traditional activities from the perspective that "before prohibiting, it is necessary to act and manage".
New zoning proposal and other matters
Other issues that have been discussed have been the final proposal for a new zoning of the Biosphere Reserve of Lanzarote to adapt it to the statutory framework of UNESCO, and the presentation of a diagnostic study on the situation of the Council of the Biosphere Reserve as a body of participation, which also includes proposals for its revitalization.
Also, during the session the conclusions of the energy and transport working commissions that took place during the autumn months of last year were presented.
