PHOTOS: Sergio Betancort
The volunteers of the Ruta 7 university project have cleaned a plot of land in the industrial area of Argana. This is a plot of land that the Arrecife City Council itself, to whom it belongs, has defined as "degraded" and whose state, as well as the inaction of the institutions, had been recently criticized by some citizens. This Friday, the volunteers have removed waste and have also planted native species in the area.
The plot, located on Tenderete street, "is a public space degraded by the accumulation of waste, basically plastics dragged by the wind that have become hooked on street furniture and weeds," says the City Council. That aspect has now changed with the intervention of these 45 young people, in an action coordinated by the Biosphere Reserve.
"This group of young people has given us an example of social and environmental responsibility that we cannot ignore. Both administrations and citizens must guarantee the conservation of the collective environment, one of the basic pillars in the construction of coexistence," acknowledged the mayor of Arrecife. She did so after visiting the site this Friday morning, accompanied by the councilors of Cleaning, Tomás Fajardo, and Parks and Gardens, Ascensión Toledo.
Repopulation of native flora
Along with cleaning, the objective of the action has been the planting of specimens of native flora, such as tabaibas, tarajales, dragon trees and veroles, to "promote the sustainability of public space", says the City Council.
Thus, as explained by the Cabildo, which also admits that the site "was quite degraded", 70 sweet tabaibas (Euphorbia balsamifera), 8 tarajales (Tamarix canariensis), 8 dragon trees (Dracaena draco) and 70 veroles (Kleinia neriifolia) have been planted. The Environment Service of the Cabildo has collaborated by giving these species to plant them.
The president of the Cabildo and head of the Biosphere Reserve on the island, Pedro San Ginés, highlighted "the spirit of cooperation and social and environmental commitment of these young people", to whom he also reiterated his special "gratitude on behalf of the first Corporation, and on his own, for the collaborations and volunteer work carried out in these days on the island".
An "exemplary" action
In addition, San Ginés has made a call "to the social responsibility of all", so that the work and effort that is made by the different groups of volunteers who cooperate in this type of actions in Lanzarote, "also serves as an example to raise awareness among the population that we must keep our environment clean and that, in this type of plots, waste or uncontrolled waste should not be deposited".
According to the Cabildo, the group that has carried out the action is made up of 65 people, 45 of them young people between 18 and 30 years old who were selected from about 1,500 university students from all the islands and the peninsula, even some of foreign origin who have joined this program from the Czech Republic or Colombia.
The members of the Ruta 7 project, organized by the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and the University Foundation of Las Palmas, are touring the islands on a 35-day trip, spending an average of 5 days on each island. They arrived in Lanzarote on Monday and will leave this Saturday, after having carried out this and other actions on the island and also on La Graciosa. The main purpose of the initiative is to "promote the values of coexistence in the communities and create opportunities for positive action", says the City Council of Arrecife. To this end, they carry out actions with an environmental, social, educational and tourist nature in the Canary Islands.