The constitutive session of the 'Lanzarote Biosphere Reserve Council' was held this morning, with a climate of cordiality and satisfaction, which, after the renewal of the Governing Board, resumes its work with a unanimous will for progress, agreement and sustainability.
In his speech, Oswaldo Betancort, has advocated for continuing to work “with the greatest possible consensus, and with all our effort, to continue being worthy representatives of the Declaration”. “In these times in which we are experiencing an eco-social crisis with unimaginable consequences, let's look back, review our past actions, learn new answers and react together. For this purpose, we have this forum for debate and participation, where we can share the different ambitions, ideas and projects, with the ultimate goal of prospering as a people and as a territory.”
He has also announced his intention that the political action of the next four years “go hand in hand with the proposals and feelings of the Council”, to advance towards “a better relationship between people and their environment, promote the improvement of the quality of life of the populations and at the same time, safeguard natural ecosystems, promoting innovative approaches that are socially, economically and environmentally sustainable.”
The Councilor of the Biosphere Reserve, Samuel Martín, stated along the same lines, who defended a stage “of conversation and understanding, of debate and conciliation, and why not, of healthy dissidence, since we must not forget that valuable conclusions can be drawn from dialectics and argumentation.”
Martín has advanced the results of an opinion survey carried out by the Cabildo Data Center on the degree of knowledge and the impact of the Reserve's actions on the population and has celebrated that “more than 91% of the people consulted stated that they knew the designation of the island as a UNESCO territory.” However, “few recognize having taken part in participatory processes or awareness-raising activities led by the department, something that we will try to correct in this mandate.”
The first contributions
The inaugural session has served as a “first contact” between the members of the Council and a channel for expressing their “will to dialogue” in a participatory and effective manner. The good disposition, the commitment to the task of debate and consensus that is opening up, the hope that its function will be fruitful and the recognition of the 'Reserve Office' team for the intense work of three decades is what has focused the bulk of the interventions.
But there was also room for the first proposals for discussion, such as the urgent “management of resources, water, energy, planning, or the revision of the regulations of the participation body”, so that the sessions are held in a timely manner and their arguments and decisions have more weight in political action.
“Pride”, “opportunity”, “dialogue”, “collaboration” and “consensus” were the most repeated ideas in the interventions, along with the urgency of addressing the “challenges of climate change and the protection of biodiversity and the territory.”
The constitutive session of the Lanzarote Biosphere Reserve Council is available for viewing on the following link.
