IMAGES: Sergio Betancort
A hundred volunteers came this Sunday to the restored old rofera of El Lomo de San Andrés, in Tao, to participate in an activity of repopulation with native species of the Canary Islands. Thus, 1,500 new specimens were planted.
The volunteers, among whom were entire families, enjoyed a day of work, in which they showed their commitment to Lanzarote and the environment. In total, for just over two hours, some 6,000 square meters of this space could be repopulated with some 1,500 specimens, mainly tabaibas, veroles and higuerillas. Some marine rosemary were also planted.
The size of the seedlings provided by the Cabildo of Lanzarote to carry out this repopulation was between 8 and 30 centimeters. It is expected that they will grow in about three months and that the complete process of the Restoration Plan will be completed, which the Cabildo initiated in this old rofera that was degraded and disused.
The restoration of the rofera
This restoration was carried out on 11,418 square meters in this natural space that was degraded, with 48,000 cubic meters of recycled materials from construction and demolition waste (CDW). These plots of land, owned by the Cabildo of Lanzarote, presented an evident state of deterioration due to the exploitation in them of a deposit of "basaltic lapilli".
The first phase of the project was developed by the Waste area of the Cabildo of Lanzarote with a budget of about 200,000 euros for the drafting of the project and the completion of the restoration works, financed by the Biosphere Reserve Office through the agreement -2009-2010- of the Ministry of Environment, Rural and Marine Affairs (MARM).
This Sunday's initiative in El Lomo de San Andrés was organized by the Biosphere Reserve and the Environment area, but also had the collaboration of the Department of Social Welfare, which provided free transport, the Department of Agriculture, which "guarded the specimens of plants" and collaborated with the specialized staff of the Experimental Agricultural Farm. The IDEO Canarian Youth Foundation and the Teguise City Council also participated.
