Canary Coalition of Tenerife and Podemos Canarias have joined the rejection of social and environmental groups to the proposal of Canary Islands Government to create a Tidal Pool Master Plan to provide 117 of them –61 on the island of Tenerife– with different services and equipment. Tenerife’s nationalists show their “frontal refusal” to the proposal of the Ministry of Tourism to intervene on the coast.
CC Tenerife argues that puddles «are ecosystems of great fragility from the environmental point of view, especially due to their associated marine and terrestrial flora-fauna, as well as places very vulnerable in addition to possible changes in their habitat especially for autochthonous and endemic species ”».
Insular CC proposes increasing the budget for scientific studies on the biodiversity of these fragile ecosystems and the implementation of a Comprehensive Beach Plan. Likewise, CC proposes to support the adaptation of those pools that already have a significant influx due to their easy access and location, but in no case the proposed list of 117.
Rejection of Podemos.
Podemos Canarias “does not support the intentions of Tourism to carry out actions such as improving the accessibility and signaling of 117 tidal pools with the aim of making them more attractive to tourists and visitors through a Master Plan.” It is assured by Laura Fuentes, regional general coordinator. The purple formation considers this measure incompatible with the Climate Emergency situation declared by the regional government two years ago. Fuentes proposes, instead, a intervention in the most popular puddles based on accessibility and safety that allow access to people with reduced mobility, the elderly and children, who are “not even close” to 117 – 61 on this island – that “intends to alter the department led by Castilla. With a ten well distributed would be more than enough “, assesses the purple leader. The general coordinator of political training has urged her colleague Noemí Santana, Minister of Social Rights of the Canary Government, to express this position in the next Governing Council and to invite the Gomeran socialist to “reconsider.”
Almost 9,000 signatures.
Pablo Martín, a marine biologist, explains in a video on Instagram, which has gone viral, his reasons for leading an initiative on change.org, supported late yesterday by 8,987 signatures, to reject the proposal of the Canary Islands Government to do «Accessible to tourism» 117 pools of the Canary Islands, 61 in Tenerife. After the support received on social networks and together with his colleague Adrián Flores, a terrestrial biologist specialized in biodiversity and conservation, we have shown their “concern” for this initiative. Martín explains: “Biologically, puddles are a great source of biodiversity, marine and terrestrial fauna and flora.” He adds that “they are like small nurseries of the most well-known species such as the old, the sargo, the salema, the mullet, fulas, green fish, groupers, cabrillas …”. And he values: «The juveniles of these species reside in these pools and there they spend the first phases of their life. Hundreds of studies have shown the importance they have for the marine and intertidal ecosystem.
Improvement of the coastline.
The project in which the Government of the Canary Islands is already working aims to act in the 117 puddles that it considers to be of “tourist interest” to enhance their value as a natural attraction. The general objective, included in the Master Plan for tidal pools, is to carry out actions, such as “improving accessibility, signage and garbage, which respect the environment and current urban development and coastal regulations.” The forecast is that these actions could begin in 2023 and will be agreed with the Ecological Transition to respect the ecosystems of each pond.
