“In a world where the balance between development and conservation is increasingly fragile, our commitment to sustainability is strengthened with concrete and responsible actions. Today more than ever, it is imperative that the knowledge and enjoyment of our Biosphere Reserve be carried out in a respectful manner, promoting behaviors that value and protect our environment, heritage and biodiversity.” This was stated by the president of the Cabildo de Lanzarote, Oswaldo Betancort, during the presentation of the project Informants of the Biosphere Reserve. Information and Interpretation Service of the Biosphere Reserve, through which it is intended to generalize and consolidate attitudes of respect and care when visiting the natural spaces of the island.
To this end, through an order to the public company Gesplan, the first Corporation promotes the performance of dissemination and diffusion of environmental matters during the months of August to October, through the hiring of a dozen informants and a coordinating person, “to help educate and inform those who visit the island and those who inhabit it, about the rules and recommendations when traveling through the most fragile and vulnerable spaces, in addition to collecting data on incidents, behaviors, needs, that help improve the use and management of our natural wealth,” added Betancort.
As highlighted by the Councilor of the Biosphere Reserve, Samuel Martín, “this is a pioneering action on the island, through which ten people hired for this purpose will be deployed in the most fragile natural spaces of the territory to warn visitors about their values, vulnerability and peculiarities, on dates when we expect a significant arrival of tourists.”
The deputy head of the Environment and Climate Change Area of the public company, Lidia Suárez, highlighted the additional interest in collecting information and monitoring incidents during these initial three months “in order to define the roadmap and assess other complementary actions, if necessary.”
The technician of the Biosphere Reserve office, Juan Cazorla, recalled the coordinated work carried out by his department with the areas of Environment, Heritage, Geopark, Environmental Education Unit and Landscape and Food Sovereignty, both in the definition of the messages that the informants will convey and the subsequent reading of the conclusions.
The areas on which action will initially be taken are Las Grietas, Montaña Negra, Montaña Colorada, Caldera Blanca, the La Corona volcano, El Golfo, Los Ajaches-Femés, Jameos del Agua surroundings, Caletón Blanco and La Graciosa. In any case, according to Cazorla, the informative activity will be transferred to different points of the territory depending on the needs that are detected.
