SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, 20 Sep. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The president of the Cabildo de Tenerife, Pedro Martín, announced this Tuesday the launch of an environmental restoration plan for an amount of 4.6 million in the area affected by the fire that originated in Los Campeches at the end of July and spread through the municipalities of Los Realejos, San Juan de la Rambla and La Guancha.
In a press conference before starting, the Governing Council pointed out that this year 1.6 million of its own funds will be invested and in 2023 and 2024, with resources from the Canarian and central governments, 1.9 million and 1 million, respectively.
The fire burned some 2,700 hectares of land and now, Martín pointed out, the objective is to be “proactive” and not wait for winter and nature to do the work, as has been done, for example, with the repopulation of the mountain of Arico after the last fire.
Thus, he pointed out that dry material and vegetation that is easy to burn will be eliminated, native species such as barbuzanos, viñátigos or Canarian cedars will be planted and there will be cleaning of forest tracks to prevent stone falls in case of rains and runoff .
Martín has also said that the intervention in the area will be used to improve the signage of the trails.
Regarding the origin of the fire, he has indicated that the Civil Guard continues to investigate with various hypotheses and is “especially concerned” about this case, given that a few weeks after the fire there was an attack nearby, in El Tanque, which also “could have been provoked” .
Martín has confessed that he suspects that the fire was caused, although “it cannot be said yet” because all the evidence is not available.
Questioned by the criticism of the mayor of Los Realejos, Adolfo González, to the reforestation plan, he pointed out that the Cabildo “was 24 hours” at the foot of the emergency and gave “timely information” to all the mayors, with “daily meetings and calls permanent as ever.
He has indicated that reforestation is the responsibility of the Cabildo, which is going to inform the town halls of the affected municipalities, and believes that despite the “closeness of the elections” we should rejoice and collaborate with its development, even if someone “wants to collaborate financially “.
According to Martín, the time has come to “be agile” and put aside those administrations that “promise” that they are going to launch a plan. “Instead of so many meetings, let’s work, take initiatives, put money into operation to recover our mountains and meetings later, the ones we want”, he commented.
