The Cabildo of Lanzarote has moved the departments of the Biosphere Reserve and Geopark UNESCO Lanzarote and Chinijo Archipelago to the Casa de los Arroyo, one of the most emblematic buildings in the municipality of Arrecife.
The Minister of the Environment of the Island Council, Ariagona González, says that this is intended to improve the service provided by both entities.
In this sense, she recalls "the key role that both the Biosphere Reserve and the Geopark play in carrying out actions that promote sustainability, the maintenance of traditional productive activities and the promotion of scientific bases aimed at conservation, all of which encourage citizens to participate in the tasks of planning and managing resources".
The Cabildo recalls that in October 1993, an area of the UNESCO Global Geopark of Lanzarote and the Chinijo Archipelago had already been declared a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO. In addition, within its extension there are up to 13 protected environments, according to the Canary Islands Network of Protected Natural Spaces, which occupy an area of about 350 km2. That is, approximately 14% of the territory of the geopark is protected, which translates "into the immense natural wealth that the island treasures and how its population has been able to conserve and increase these values". It also highlights that since 1974, the Timanfaya National Park, a geosite of international relevance where the historic eruption of 1730-1736 occurred.
As for the Casa de los Arroyo, declared a historical-artistic monument, it was built in the 17th century as one of the two customs offices owned by the Marquises of Lanzarote. Initially, it was owned by the Armas family and later by the Arroyo family.
