The area of the Natural Environment of the council the process of demolishing the houses of the old sanatorium has been completed of Teide National Park. The intention of this action is recover the value of the landscape of the area and its surroundings to comply with island, state and community regulations. Councilor Isabel García points out that this intervention is due to recommendations from the Master Plan for Use and Management (PRUG) of the Park, as well as indications from the Council of Europe. The demolition of the three shantytowns that still existed has been completed and the space is now being renaturalized to return it to its original state.
“This is a milestone in the history of the conservation of the National Park, as constructions derived from a sanitary environment that was never consolidated were eliminated.” Isabel García appreciates it.
The counselor points out that the collapse of these houses, which were in a very poor state of conservation, was already included in the Master Plan for Use and Management (PRUG) of 2002 and that the recommendations of the Council of Europe for the renewal of the Diploma European already indicated that it was necessary. “The Cabildo acquired all the buildings and has proceeded to permanently remove them from the Park,” she says.
Visit.
García visited the place last week and was able to verify the work of removing construction debris. “These houses – he points out – had been built without permits and threatened the conservation of the park.” He adds that “they were irregularly connected to the water transfer pipes.” For this reason, in its use, waste was dumped into the environment, in addition to the existence of asbestos plates, remains of tiles, wood and plastics. “An urgent decision had to be made to eliminate this landfill from an important area in the Park,” underlines Isabel García, who adds: “It also had a negative influence on the landscape, since it was visible from various points around it.”
The sanatorium houses began to be built in 1930 and were never used as such. They were distributed in four relatively remote areas, with between 199 and 83 square meters built. The total built area was around 654, to which must be added more than 189 walls. They are located on land that belongs to La Orotava, next to trail number 16 of the Teide National Park, and have forced action in a degraded area whose surface exceeds 8,454 square meters. Now work will be done to return this environment to a situation as similar as it should have been before the construction of these buildings. The final delivery of the project is expected to take place in April.
The director of the Park.
«The demolition of the sanatorium houses is a historic milestone in the conservation of the Teide National Park». It is indicated, in coincidence with the island counselor, by the conservator director of the protected area, Manuel Durbán. He considers that the settlement lost its reason for being a long time ago and had become an uncontrolled occupation of natural space to attend to rights acquired over the years”. The director of the National Park also points out that this action is part of one of the nine recommendations made by the Council of Europe to proceed with the awarding of the European Conservation Diploma.
Reforestation.
In the face of landscape recovery, reforestation will be carried out with species typical of the summit scrub and suitable for the environment, such as brooms, wallflowers, lards, etc. They have been produced in the nurseries of the Teide National Park. The complete completion of the works is expected in the month of May”.
Renewal.
The European Conservation Diploma has been awarded by the Council of Europe since 1965. The Teide National Park obtained it in 1989, and, as the institution establishes in its criteria, the certificate is renewed in periods of five or ten years. . This award analyzes the biological, geological and landscape peculiarities of protected natural spaces. In Spain only three national parks have the distinction: Doñana, Ordesa and Monte Perdido, and Teide. In Europe, it is held by more than 70 natural spaces in 23 countries.
