Ecologistas en Acción has demanded that action be taken “without further delay” to avoid “the continuous violation of environmental legislation” that it claims is occurring with certain sporting events, both in Lanzarote and La Graciosa.
“As a Biosphere Reserve and a territory differentiated by its enormous natural heritage, we must put all our attention and care so that all activities are carried out under specific conditions, prevailing in any case the protection of natural habitats, wild fauna and flora to any event, and imposing strict environmental measures by the administrations that determine the conditions to carry them out”, claims the association.
These conditions, it considers, should be established “taking into account the capacity, intensity and vulnerability of the different areas and, even, with the necessary restrictions or prohibitions, either due to the nesting season, soil erosion, noise pollution, light pollution, marine migration, stress in fish and mammals or any other relevant circumstance for the natural environment”.
In addition, it underlines the need to also ensure compliance with these measures, “carrying out monitoring and control, in order to ensure an optimal interrelation with the natural environment”
Regarding the sponsoring entities, federations, clubs, public, participants and volunteers, from Ecologistas en Acción they point out that “they must become aware and acquire a real and effective commitment towards the existing environmental problems on the islands, becoming active agents, protecting and caring for the environment, corresponding to the administrations to promote such awareness”.
In this regard, he points out that although many of the practices, such as hiking, running, cycling, sailing, hang gliding or windsurfing, are “friendly” to the environment, “if the time in which they are carried out, the intensity and the place are not taken into account, they can cause irreversible damage to the island”, not only “by the practice itself, but by what the organization itself generates, since it usually requires the provision of parking, installation of public toilets, access areas, refreshment points, accumulation of public in sensitive areas, waste containers and participation of a large number of people in the organizational teams”.
“It can produce a rejection in the tourist population”
The environmental group, which already referred to this situation in the allegations to the Natural Resources Management Plan that is currently being processed, recalls the “boom” that has been experienced in recent years in the celebration of “sports, recreational or adventure events, by land, sea or air, many of them in natural spaces” and “highly sensitive, such as La Geria, el jable, malpaíses, Famara or the Famara massif”.
“It is evident that these events attract a significant number of people (athletes, visitors and companions) who are captivated, apart from the tests to be carried out, by the landscape and aesthetic qualities of these vulnerable environments, generating economic growth in society. However, we cannot allow them to be developed without the necessary guarantees for the conservation of the natural environment and without controlling their impact”, they emphasize, recalling that this is established by the Law on Natural Heritage and Biodiversity.
In addition, they warn that the opposite “can produce a rejection in the tourist population that, to a large extent, demand more and more a vacation destination that is respectful of the natural and environmentally sustainable space”.
“In general, in natural spaces the care of the natural environment must prevail over the demand of any threatening activity that alters the state of conservation and, until the PORN is approved, all necessary precautionary protection measures must be adopted, in compliance with article 23 of the aforementioned law, because there is a risk of reversing all the environmental recognitions that Lanzarote and La Graciosa have been enjoying”, claims Ecologistas en Acción.
From the Ironman to the rallies or the swim crossing
The association lists tests such as the Rally Isla de Los Volcanes -which was canceled in its last edition and generated divisions in the government group, with the former Minister of the Environment, Elena Solís-, but also the El Río swim crossing -which started with 50 participants and in its last edition had 675-; the Ironman -with 148 initial participants compared to the current 800-; the eighth island Challenge, the Wild Race Lanzarote, the Haría Extrem and the Wine Run.
In addition, this adds the activity of buggies and jet skis, as well as “different film shoots, short films, series, television programs and advertising reports.”
“Another thing to keep in mind is the promotion of them by the Cabildo de Lanzarote itself, which seems like an invitation to the masses, totally contrary to the purposes of preservation and care of protected spaces”, reproaches the association.
In this regard, it cites a publication of the Island Corporation that states that “in La Graciosa extreme sports and nature offer the option of participating in a spectacular sporting event due to its environment, a unique island, environmental heritage, an ecological space of great scientific interest due to its volcanology and landscapes”, where “the participants have the opportunity to compete surrounded by a biological richness in endemic species, through dunes and beaches of golden sands, reaching the goal at the souk of the constructions and primitive streets of jable”.
