The Cabildo of Tenerife, the Santa Cruz City Council and Fundación Cepsa have joined forces in the reforestation project of Las Mesas Park, a natural space in the capital that will once again recover its thermophilic forest of yesteryear.
The president of the Cabildo, Rosa Dávila, the mayor of the municipality, José Manuel Bermúdez; and the head of the Cepsa Foundation, Belén Machado, yesterday visited this place located in the metropolitan area and where a technical study has already begun to be carried out to undertake the reforestation work of the park’s ancient vegetation, thus providing the northern area of a thermophilic forest and that of the south of cardonal tabaibal.
With a total budget of 26,000 euros per year (15,000 euros for the environmental study and 11,000 euros for the acquisition of plants and fruit trees), this action is part of the Cabildo’s ecological corridors program, “with which we try to eliminate invasive plants and repopulate with native plants,” Dávila highlighted.
In this sense, the president highlighted the importance of also having the General Foundation of the University of La Laguna (ULL), through the Wolfredo Wildpret Botanical Garden Scientific Cultural Chair, to carry out the environmental recovery project of the Park of the Tables.
For his part, Mayor José Manuel Bermúdez stated that thanks to the involvement of public and private institutions “the action that this park will experience in the coming years will be powerful, allowing the reforestation of this lung of the capital.”
Meanwhile, the head of the Cepsa Foundation, Belén Machado, pointed out that “the idea is to bet on biodiversity and contribute to promoting this park as a green corridor, where the flow of native species between the Anaga biosphere reserve is brought into contact with this more urban ecosystem.”
In this regard, the ULL expert, Alberto de la Rosa, explained that “in the short and medium term, environmental restoration will be undertaken based on thermophilic forest and the planting of traditional fruit trees such as chestnut trees. An action that will also be complemented with environmental volunteer activities and environmental awareness thanks to the Nature Classroom that will be located in the park.”
Also present during the visit were the island’s Natural Environment advisor, Blanca Pérez; the insular director of the Natural Environment, Pedro Millán; and the first deputy mayor of the City Council, Carlos Tarife.
