The Ministry of Ecological Transition and Energy of the Government of the Canary Islands, led by Mariano Hernández Zapata, through the Biodiversity Service, today presented the distinction as "Guardians of Famara" to the students of the Secondary Education Institute (IES) of Teguise, in Lanzarote. An initiative that is part of the project "Optimization of habitat restoration work carried out on the peaks of Famara", co-financed by the Canary Islands ERDF Program 2021-2027.
According to Councilor Zapata, this project aims to "raise awareness about one of the enclaves with the greatest biodiversity in Lanzarote, directly involving the new generations in its protection and future." Thus, under the motto 'Planting Future in Famara', since May 13, the students of this center have participated in an educational contest that consisted of completing an album of 42 illustrated stickers that includes images of the native species and the interventions carried out for the ecological restoration of the Famara peaks.
For this, each class in the center had one of these albums to complete, but only a specific section of stickers, so collaboration and exchange with the rest of the students and with the students of the Adapted Professional Training module was necessary, with the 1st year ESO students being the winners and being rewarded with the visit of the well-known content creator "Mister Castilla", a Spanish teacher who uses social networks to promote educational values among his hundreds of thousands of followers.
In the words of the councilor, who named the students of the educational center as 'Guardians of Famara', this action aims to motivate a younger audience, through role models in their daily lives and innovative learning situations, about the need to continue working on the care of their island and the species that inhabit it."
"The enthusiasm of these young people and their willingness to collaborate to restore the biodiversity of Famara demonstrate that future generations are committed to the conservation of the natural heritage of the Canary Islands, something that we from the institutions have a duty to promote," said the councilor.
In addition, Zapata also took the opportunity to highlight "the involvement of the students of adapted FP and Agroecology of the center, who for years have been working on the production of seeds of native species of Famara in the school garden", pointing out that through comprehensive projects like this, "we promote social inclusion and environmental education to build a greener and more sustainable future in the islands."
"The Famara restoration project demonstrates that caring for biodiversity and transmitting these values to new generations is not only a challenge, but an opportunity to create a more sustainable Canary Islands with a future," Zapata concluded.
For her part, the island director of Education in Lanzarote, María del Carmen Pellón, highlighted the commitment of the Ministry of Ecological Transition and Energy to the development of this project in the Lanzarote center. "Education for the youngest is essential to ensure that the adults of the future are aware of the natural wealth of our islands and work towards their preservation and this initiative places IES Teguise as a benchmark in this matter," she said.
The peaks of Famara
Famara, northwest of Lanzarote, is the enclave with the greatest biodiversity on the island, with more than 350 endemic species. The project not only seeks to restore its degraded habitats, but also to lay the foundations for future interventions in other natural spaces of the archipelago, promoting knowledge, social participation and the generation of employment linked to environmental conservation.
This initiative, which also has the collaboration of the Island Council and the Air Surveillance Squadron (EVA-22), includes a total budget of 2,363,332 euros and in 2024 has allowed the collection of more than 10,000 healthy seeds of species such as guaidil, whose reproduction in the natural environment only produced 150 seeds in previous years.
The sticker album 'Planting the future in Famara'
Through illustrations and informative texts, this album developed by the Ministry allows us to know the most representative native species of the area, such as the bindweed (Convolvulus lopezsocasi), the pinillo (Plantago famarae) or the herb of Santa María (Argyranthemum maderense), as well as the interventions carried out to recover this enclave of high ecological value.
In addition, the album dedicates a section to making visible the work of the Vocational Training students of the center, whose work in the seed garden has been recognized at the national level, being finalists in two editions of the state Learning and Service awards.
