The Canary Islands Government expects to assume the management of the four national parks that are in the archipelago this year 2008. This was recalled this Thursday in Parliament by the Minister of the Environment and Territorial Planning of the Canary Islands Government, Domingo Berriel, when reporting on the reasons why the works for the construction of a new parking lot in the Timanfaya National Park have not begun.
"It is a right recognized to the autonomous communities by the Constitutional Court, so we hope that the assumption of these powers by the Canary Islands Autonomous Community will take place this year." The Canary Islands has four National Parks located in Tenerife (Teide), La Palma (Caldera de Taburiente), La Gomera (Garajonay) and Lanzarote (Timanfaya).
However, the Minister stressed that "the exclusive management by the Community should not in any case result in a reduction in the funding of our four National Parks", so he announced that the autonomous Executive "will demand from the State the proper economic and material endowment in new contacts after the next general elections, in which it will not cease in its efforts to ensure that the transfer takes place as soon as possible".
Works in Timanfaya
Regarding the construction of a parking lot in the National Park of the island of Lanzarote, Berriel referred to the fact that the autonomous body National Parks has dealt with it on several occasions within the framework of the Joint Commission for the Management of the National Parks of the Canary Islands, and that the director of the National Park is waiting for the Cabildo and the two affected municipalities to send him their proposals regarding the possible location of the parking areas.
In the session of the Joint Commission held on April 23, 2007, on the occasion of the acknowledgment of the document of Revision of the Master Plan for Use and Management (PRUG) of the Timanfaya National Park, it was agreed to mandate the director of the Park to initiate contacts with the municipalities of Yaiza and Tinajo, as well as with the Cabildo, before the summer in order to find solutions to the problems that are registered in the current access system, for its incorporation, if the PRUG were to proceed.
Berriel recalled the importance of the Plan for Use and Management, assuring that "it allows harmony between the settlements of populations and the guarantee of natural conservation of the space." The Plan is drafted by the autonomous body of National Parks and approved by the Government of the Canary Islands after a report from the Joint Commission.
