The Cabildo of Lanzarote and the Lanzarote Hunters Society have agreed to unblock by zones the temporary closure of hunting activity in the municipality of Haría, decreed in recent weeks due to successive cases of poisoning of fauna.
During the afternoon of this Thursday, the president of the Cabildo, Oswaldo Betancort, and the Minister of Environment and Hunting, Samuel Martín, held a fruitful meeting in the Convent of Santo Domingo de Teguise with a representation of the more than one thousand licensed hunters on the island. The meeting allowed to trace a consensual roadmap, whose main axis will be the zoning of the northern area of Lanzarote to establish authorized hunting areas where there have been no episodes of poisoning.
The technicians of the Hunting Area are already working on the elaboration of detailed maps that will identify the feasible spaces for this practice, documentation that will be sent shortly to the Government of the Canary Islands in order to obtain the approval of the competent authority. The intention of the Cabildo is to enable this exceptional route before the opening of shotgun hunting, scheduled for September 28.
Since the beginning of August, 24 cases of poisoning have been recorded, affecting wild and domestic fauna —including hunting dogs, Canarian crows, domestic dogs, cats and hedgehogs—, which led to the temporary suspension in Haría.
Gratitude to the hunting sector
Both the president and the minister expressed their gratitude for the constructive attitude of the hunters at the meeting. Betancort stressed that "the temporary closure is a consequence of the action of one or more criminals who will be identified and must answer to justice for the damage they are causing to the entire society of Lanzarote." The president also stressed that "the hunter of Lanzarote is exemplary: he practices a sustainable, responsible activity and is an example of sportsmanship."
Betancort concluded that he takes from this meeting "a list of tasks in which to continue working, both from the presidency of the Cabildo and from the Parliament of the Canary Islands", referring to issues raised in the meeting such as training camps, the possible updating of closed seasons, the enhancement of the Canarian hound or the need to address a modification of the Canary Islands Hunting Law, among other issues.
For his part, Minister Samuel Martín has expressed his conviction that "the zoning work proposed by the Cabildo will receive the authorization of the Government of the Canary Islands as soon as possible and will be included in the new hunting order." He also announced that the intention of the Island Institution is to extend the hunting period throughout the island by a couple of days, in order to compensate for the closure suffered by the municipality of Haría.
Constant collaboration
Both Betancort and Martín recalled that this problem of great depth has been able to be addressed in an orderly manner thanks to the close collaboration between the Cabildo and the Hunters Society, a relationship that has been strengthened in recent months with joint initiatives such as the sowing of wheat, the installation of drinking troughs or the dissemination of responsible hunting practice, among other joint projects that will continue with the holding of new working tables after the end of the hunting period.
"The outcome of this episode confirms that working together we can give balanced answers to a sector that is an essential part of the culture and environment of Lanzarote," concluded Oswaldo Betancort.