The Cabildo of Tenerife will allocate €6,668,722 for the restoration and reforestation of the forest areas damaged by the major fire in 2023. The island corporation has recently approved commissioning the public company TRAGSA to carry out the project. The works will include land preparation, the sanitisation of slopes, and reforestation, with an execution period of 36 months.
Blanca Pérez, the Councillor for Natural Environment, stated, “This action will extend over several years, starting this year with the Acentejo pine forest and an investment of €1.3 million.”
“We will intervene in specific areas of El Sauzal, La Matanza, and La Victoria, where some of the most affected zones are located. This demonstrates a firm commitment to active and proactive forest management to keep our mountains healthy and alive,” she added.
To carry out this work, it will be necessary to temporarily recover some roads that are currently not in use. This is because the replacement of the radiata pine will require space for the extraction of burnt wood.
The efforts will also focus on preparing accesses, removing debris, and sanitising severely damaged slopes through manual work. The extracted wood will be chipped, and part of the budget will be allocated for potential archaeological studies that may arise during the process.
The project will be divided into four phases due to its complexity. The first phase will focus on the removal of burnt wood, slope sanitisation, and earth movements, as well as providing materials and safety elements for the workers.
In the second phase, treatments will be implemented to aid the regeneration of the forest area. This will also include reforestation with new shrub species in the fire-affected areas. Additionally, bioengineering works will be carried out to identify the most affected zones of the land.
The third phase will focus on improving the tree mass and its management, aiming to optimise the condition of the species that were not damaged by the flames. The spread of both biotic and abiotic pests will be monitored, facilitating wood production and improving drainage in the soil and subsoil.
Finally, a complete replanting will be carried out in cleared areas with Canary pine, undergrowth treatments, and chipping of remains. Soil protection and erosion control will also be undertaken.
