The Area of Spatial Planning and Territorial Policy of the Cabildo de Lanzarote announced this Thursday that a "decisive administrative step" has been taken towards the definitive approval of the Special Plan for the Protected Landscape of La Geria. In a press release, they indicated that this plan is one of the "key" territorial planning tools, aiming to preserve one of Lanzarote's most emblematic landscapes, protecting its natural environment, its cultural value, and the traditional agricultural technique of the pit.
This Tuesday, November 18, the experts who make up the Island Environmental Assessment Body of Lanzarote and La Graciosa approved the Scope Document for the La Geria Special Plan. As detailed by the Minister of Territorial Planning and Territorial Policy of the Cabildo de Lanzarote, Jesús Machín, this important confirmation of the Scope Document "brings us closer to the long-awaited final approval of this document, vital for the conservation of our landscape and, above all, for the development of the activity of the farmers and winemakers of La Geria," he commented. After the approval of the Scope Document, the next step for the Cabildo will be to face the approval of the Draft Plan, and then proceed with the Initial Approval.
Regarding this, President Oswaldo Betancort stated that this administrative milestone "represents a fundamental step forward in organizing a territory as sensitive as La Geria, where agricultural activity, landscape value, and the lives of families who have been rooted in the area for generations converge." Betancort also added that the Special Plan "will provide legal certainty, reinforce environmental protection, and offer real solutions to those who carry out their activities in the area."For her part, Cabildo Vice President María Jesús Tovar stated that the approval of the Scope document "confirms this Governing group's commitment to protecting the island's landscape and identity." Tovar clarified that La Geria "is one of our greatest cultural and environmental symbols, a unique space in the world that deserves rigorous and updated planning."
A Unique Natural Park
The Special Plan for the Protected Landscape of La Geria establishes the protection of pit cultivation in the central area of La Geria, ensuring that other techniques cannot be employed. It also divides the natural park into three areas with different levels of protection, differentiating between natural, untransformed areas, areas where different agricultural techniques coexist, and the central part, where only pit cultivation will be permitted.
Furthermore, the plan incorporates the populations within territorial planning, providing solutions for those who have lived in the area before its declaration as a natural space.It also recognizes wineries as fundamental elements for landscape conservation, since without wineries there would be no winemakers and without winemakers the characteristic landscape of La Geria would be lost