Photos: Sergio Betancort
Coinciding with the XXIII anniversary of the events scheduled to commemorate the title 'Lanzarote, Biosphere Reserve' of UNESCO (1993), the Cabildo de Lanzarote celebrated this Friday, October 21, at the MIAC-Castillo de San José, the awards ceremony corresponding to the second edition of the Biosphere References awards.
An event that was presided over by the president of the Cabildo de Lanzarote and president of the Council of the Biosphere Reserve, Pedro San Ginés, who was accompanied by other members of the Island Corporation, the Council of the Biosphere Reserve and various invited authorities and personalities from different fields.
The Special Employment Center Grevislan (subsidiary of the Association of Disabled People of Lanzarote, Adislan) received the 'Biosphere Reference' Award at this public event. A second and third award were presented, respectively, to Wolfredo Wildpret de la Torre (scientist, professor emeritus at the University of La Laguna and former member of the Council of the Biosphere Reserve) and Alejandro Perdomo Placeres, linked to the revaluation of cochineal farming.
The winners received a reproduction of the UNESCO diploma and the artistic work 'Stability' by the authors, Javier Haro Greppi and Jorge Vázquez Consuegra.
This is the second edition of the awards that are held every two years, with the aim of identifying, publicly recognizing and disseminating the work of people, groups, organizations and companies that develop projects, experiences and actions that benefit the entire island society and that help with their commitment to improve the quality of the environment and the life of the population of Lanzarote.
In the first edition, the artist and Adopted Son of Lanzarote, Jesús Soto Morales (1929-2003) received this first Biosphere References Award posthumously. The volunteers of the NGO Center for Reception and Risk Prevention 'Calor y Café' led by Sor Ana, were also recognized with the Biosphere Reference Award.
References of the winners
Grevislan, a social enterprise and subsidiary of the Association of Disabled People of Lanzarote (Adislan), has been awarded the first prize of the Biosphere References 2014 for the important social work carried out on the island of Lanzarote since 2003.
Through the various programs they carry out, many of them with the cooperation of the Cabildo de Lanzarote, they provide employment to people with some type of disability, promoting the realization of productive and paid work. For this work, precisely, of labor integration and its social service, this Biosphere Reference Award is not only a recognition of Grevislan, but of all the people who make it up and who in these years have demonstrated doing a good job in the different employment projects in which they have participated and been part of the different teams. As an example, the work carried out by the team of people from Grevislan who participate in the projects of recovery of abandoned farms and adaptation of the environment of La Geria and their involvement with the Salvar La Geria project.
The proposal was raised, during the previous legislature, by the Department of Social Welfare and Health of the Cabildo de Lanzarote led by the then councilor, Marciano Acuña, and current mayor of Haría. Today this Department of Social Welfare is led by the councilor Lucía Olga Tejera.
The Spanish scientist, professor, specialist in botany and professor emeritus of the University of La Laguna, honorary doctor of the University of Hannover and former member of the Council of the Biosphere Reserve by the University of La Laguna, Wolfredo Wildpret de la Torre; and Alejandro Perdomo Placeres, agricultural engineer and retired teacher, closely linked to the revaluation of cochineal farming, obtained the highest number of votes and consensus among the members of the Council of the Reserve who participated in the second call for Biosphere References.
Wolfredo Wildpret will be awarded the second prize for his extensive academic curriculum, his research studies and scientific contributions for the whole of the Canary Islands, as well as for his contribution to the Council of the Biosphere Reserve when he served as representative of the University of La Laguna.
Alejandro Perdomo Placeres, agricultural engineer and retired teacher, among other multiple facets, will receive the third award for the revaluation of cochineal farming and for contributing with numerous objectives within the Biosphere Reserve of Lanzarote from his educational work and the promotion of the rational use of natural resources or the conservation of biodiversity.
Wolfredo Wildpret de la Torre was proposed by the Mararía Association and the engineer linked to the cultivation of cochineal and collaborator also of the Biosphere Reserve, Alejandro Perdomo Placeres, was proposed for these awards by the Milana Association.
On the occasion of this awards ceremony, the play 'The Legend of the Burnt Island' by Salvador Leal and the Losótroh Company, which has been created and produced by order of the Office of the Biosphere Reserve of the Cabildo de Lanzarote, was performed again.
