The Lanzarote Council held the Island Environment Board this Thursday with the seven town councils, a highly participatory forum attended by technicians and public officials from the eight affected institutions.
The meeting was chaired by the Councilor for the Environment, Samuel Martín, who values "the importance of these political-technical meetings; especially to put on the table identical environmental policies throughout the territory of Lanzarote and La Graciosa."
Martín adds that during the meeting they addressed "many issues, such as the issuance of authorizations or permits so that we have the same dynamics." They also discussed the importance of the agreement that the Cabildo maintains with the Government of the Canary Islands to eradicate the plagues of our palm grove.
In addition to coordinating with the seven town councils on the issues that structured the agenda, the Institution dedicated part of this forum to present some of the projects where it is currently innovating. Specifically, one of them has to do with the management and improvement of the Island Network of Trails, for which Martín requested suggestions from the municipalities when preparing the new network.
In addition, the Department of the Environment has confirmed that, soon, it will commission the execution of a project for "the control of exotic flora and fauna" on the island of Lanzarote.
Likewise, the councilor has highlighted that the suggestions made by the Lanzarote consistories have been especially significant. "After addressing both proposals, which have been fully included in the minutes, we will study them conscientiously from the department and report on the steps taken at the island level in the next call," says Martín.
A common environmental policy
The Island Environment Board has been made up of almost twenty technicians and public representatives from the Cabildo of Lanzarote and the seven municipalities of the island, "a sample of the collaborative nature and the important deployment of resources that the Institution dedicates to facilitating joint environmental management in the Biosphere Reserve," considers Samuel Martín.
"Coordination in these matters is fundamental and an example of this has been the point where the agreement adopted by the Governing Council of the Cabildo of Lanzarote was communicated to establish some regulatory exceptions that allow the controlled burning of plant remains in micro-agricultural exploitations," the councilor detailed.
In this sense, the island's electronic headquarters is the processing tool for these authorizations that, if affirmative, will be valid for no more than 10 days and will always be communicated to local councils. Clarify that the Area has requested a report from the Government of the Canary Islands on this matter.
Another example of the current coordination between the Institution and the seven town councils has been the study of the qualifying titles that local corporations facilitate, and that are previously reported by the Cabildo. They are usually authorizations for the development of certain activities related to active tourism or audiovisual filming - among others - that take place in natural spaces that do not have planning instruments.
The Cabildo of Lanzarote also wants improvements in these "provisional uses", so it has agreed at the Island Board how to process this type of file accurately.
Finally, Councilor Samuel Martín has thanked the technicians and representatives of the town councils, as well as the staff attached to the Department of the Environment, for the work they continue to do "to try to design a common policy that makes life easier for the citizens when we talk about environmental authorizations, permits or regulations in Lanzarote and La Graciosa," he concluded.