La Orotava City Council, through the Parks and Gardens department, is carrying out the necessary work to draft the first Tree Master Plan for the municipality, a document that the Orotava Council expects to have by the end of this year. The Villa currently has a record of 4,144 tree species, of which 3,096 are trees and the rest are palms and dragon trees.
The mayor, Francisco Linares, asserts that this action will enable obtaining a general diagnosis of the urban tree population of La Orotava, which will allow for making subsequent decisions and acting to protect and preserve the trees of La Orotava. Additionally, the resulting document will provide guidelines and a roadmap for medium and long-term strategies to optimize the model, management, care for the tree heritage, and facilitate coexistence with the population, while also addressing their needs and the general benefit of the municipality.
“The idea is to continue to promote a sustainable municipality with values of cittaslow (slow city),” noted the mayor of La Orotava. Green coverage is essential in the municipal area as it helps absorb carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, reduce urban temperatures, mitigate noise pollution, or minimize soil erosion, among many other benefits, as indicated by the municipal government in a statement.
In the hands of an expert
Councilor Felipe David Benítez, in charge of Parks and Gardens (among other areas), details that the work has begun in collaboration with the expert arborist Luis Alberto Díaz-Galiano Moya, specialized in unique trees, risk management associated with trees, and strategic planning. In a first phase, he will proceed to carry out a thorough inventory to ascertain the tree heritage of the city and to evaluate the trees accurately to analyse the population from both qualitative and quantitative perspectives.
Once this phase is completed, the evaluation of the data obtained will provide diverse and essential information about aspects such as the state of the tree population, predominant species, average age, ecosystem benefits provided, main issues affecting them, as well as the risk map that is required and necessary for planning the proper maintenance and management of the tree population.
The outcome of the study will allow the La Orotava City Council to have information on population control, from plantations, presence of empty tree pits, percentage of coverage by neighbourhoods, districts, to monitoring the number of tree fellings, for example.
La Orotava joined the European campaign A Tree for Europe last March, through which the villa council committed to planting more than 100 trees annually at different points in the municipality until 2030. Another commitment made is to carry out other actions to continue working towards environmental protection, caring for the natural environment, and contributing to the pursuit of a more sustainable world.
European coverage
The trees planted in La Orotava will be part of the count that the European Commission is conducting to achieve its goal of planting at least 3 billion trees. The target for this year 2024 has already been met with the planting of 119 new trees, highlighted by the Council.
Expert Luis Alberto Díaz-Galiano holds a degree in Biological Sciences, specializing in Botany, currently pursuing a doctorate in Biodiversity, under the theme of plant Biomechanics, ETT (European Tree Technician), ETW (European Tree Worker), Certified Arborist (CA), and ISA Certified Tree Worker/ Climber Specialist (CTW) by the ISA (International Society of Arboriculture), as well as a member of the National Scientific-Technical Forum of the Tree Forum, the Urban Tree Fracture Risk Commission, formed by the AEA, and the SbN LAB (Nature-Based Solutions) Cluster.
