The deputy in the Parliament of the Canary Islands for Lanzarote and La Graciosa and insular president of Nueva Canarias-Bloque Canarista (NC-BC), Yoné Caraballo, has defended in the Canarian Chamber the need to advance in the protection of the El Jable area through its classification as a Rural Park.
Caraballo expressed "the pride of defending the soul of an island, its agricultural memory, its biodiversity, its identity and above all its future", in reference to the El Jable environment, which he defined as "a living space, a territory shaped for generations by the hard work of our grandmothers and grandfathers, by our sweet potato farmers, our Soo watermelon, by the biodiversity that resists in the middle of an arid environment and by the wind that blows from Famara."
Similarly, the Canarian detailed the threats that the El Jable environment is suffering, such as illegal extraction of aggregates; uncontrolled tourist activities such as buggies and quads; illegal landfills; installation of plastic greenhouses; and climate change. All these conditions, he said, "are degrading a unique ecosystem and putting at risk emblematic species such as the Canarian houbara. Because El Jable, although it seems inert, is quite the opposite, it has a great wealth of endemic flora and fauna."
Why Rural Park?
Yoné Caraballo has defended that the best way to advance in the protection of El Jable is the one offered by the category of Rural Park. "This category adapts perfectly to the idiosyncrasy of the environment, since it is not a restrictive figure that expels people from the territory, but quite the opposite: it integrates and involves people in its conservation and care," he said.
"In agricultural matters, the means of irrigation, the machinery and methods of elaboration and collection of the product are conserved; but we would avoid other more invasive infrastructures such as plastic greenhouses or sprinkler irrigation towers, both with a great visual impact, can you imagine the El Jable area full of greenhouses or cranes with irrigation sprinklers?", Caraballo explained, who stressed that "it is about guaranteeing that the traditional primary sector is preserved but without prohibiting agricultural advances."
The deputy concluded by recalling that Lanzarote is the only island in the Canary Islands that does not have a Rural Park, and gave as examples the rural parks of Anaga in Tenerife; Doramas in Gran Canaria; or Betancuria in Fuerteventura, where agriculture and territorial protection coexist.
