SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, Jan. 13 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The president of the Cabildo de Tenerife has visited the areas affected by the fire last summer in the municipalities of Los Realejos, San Juan de la Rambla, La Guancha and Icod in which the Cabildo invests more than 4,441,000 euros, with some works of urgency that have already begun with more than a dozen local companies and 112 workers on forty hectares of the more than 2,700 affected by the fire.
“Shortly after the last summer fire, we have begun to work on the work to recover the tracks that lead to the fire areas, improve the firebreaks and repopulate with new vegetation that is more resistant to fires, in addition to the installation of dynamic barriers of protection”, indicated the insular president, Pedro Martín, in a recent visit to the area where the crews are already operating.
The president has commented that the works will continue until the middle of next year and that throughout 2023 they will improve an entire space that at the time burned, 2,700 hectares, “for a repopulated area with new vitality.”
He also added that “some of these areas are impassable by the work teams due to the orography, which is why other systems will be put in place, such as seed dispersal through drones.”
The president, together with the counselor for the Natural Environment and Security Management area, Isabel García and her technical team, and the councilors of the municipality of Los Realejos, Domingo García, Benito Dévora and Miguel Agustín González, toured some of the 10 hectares, of which 12.85 from sector four, in which the work teams carry out pruning and chipping of burned elements, generation of clean and clear fajinadas and other forestry actions, with the aim of preparing them for the reinforcement of slopes and actions against runoff in the event of rain.
In addition to this sector, four are working as a priority in another seven, which together add up to a surface area of 195 hectares.
“The Cabildo has reacted urgently to the serious problem that the fire caused once it was extinguished”, indicated the councilor Isabel García, who pointed out that “the complicated orography threatened the safety of people and for this reason it has started a battery of actions that are already bearing fruit, although it is a long job and that will take several years, due to the extent of the burned forest”.
WORKS ON 40 KILOMETERS OF FOREST TRACKS
In the reforestation aspect, the technicians explained to the president that due to the inclination of the terrain on the Tigaiga hillside, planting species is impossible to do manually, so drones will be used to spread seeds of monteverde species such as torvisco Daphne gnidium, malfurada (Hypericum grandifolium), malpica, (Carlina xeratheroides), algaritofe (Cedronella canariensis), granadillo, (Hypericum canariense), cruzadilla, (Hypericum reflexum), cruet (Rume), pennyroyal (Bystropogon canariensisx lunaria), chajorra ( Sideritis canariensis) and broom, (Chamaecytisus proliferus).
On the other hand, and in the perimeter of the fire, the Cabildo is working on the recovery of more than 40 kilometers of three forest roads that, due to the passage of firefighting vehicles, were affected.
For this, a machine called ‘Stone crusher’ is being used, which uses the track’s own bearing material, crushing stones up to 30 centimeters in diameter and reusing them to generate a new pavement.
The rest of the actions of this first intervention contemplate the realization of orthophotos and digital models of the terrain of the burned area, renewal and replacement of signage, monitoring of ecosystems, installation of drinking fountains and houses for birds and bats, repairs of hydraulic infrastructures or construction of fences to exclude herbivores in the Teide National Park.
