SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, 10 Apr. (EUROPE PRESS) –
The Cabildo de Tenerife has highlighted that the 3,028 hectares burned in the forest fire in Arico in May 2021 are beginning to recover after the work of the Island Corporation.
In this sense, the counselor of the Natural Environment Management and Security area, Isabel García, visited the municipality, where the necessary actions have been carried out to alleviate the damage caused by the fire.
According to the Cabildo in a statement, the island technicians have directed this project, which is financed by the General State Administration with a budget of 300,000 euros.
From the forest point of view, the fires mainly damaged the areas of Canarian pine forest with rockrose and areas of broom on the summit. A territory of 3,028 hectares was affected, which represents 1.49% of the total island surface.
For her part, the councilor explained that before the fire, the area had a great ecological wealth that led it to form part of the Canarian Network of Protected Natural Areas and the Natura 2000 Network.
“Currently, our job is to ensure that the ecosystem that this territory used to enjoy is recovered, making the most of the subsidy provided by the State Government,” he said.
The main objectives of the actions being carried out in this area are to speed up the restoration of the ecosystem, promote the stabilization of slopes and water infiltration, and restore the damaged infrastructure.
To this end, sanitation actions have been carried out that consist of cutting low branches of burnt Canarian pine and using them to build fajinadas on the hillside, structures based on branches that aim to stop the erosion caused by runoff and promote the stabilization of slopes and the water infiltration. These fajinadas prevent surface runoff.
Likewise, the damaged infrastructures are being restored and the construction of gabion dikes, containment structures, that retain the sediments to avoid the loss of soil in valleys and ravines.
Finally, two fences have been built around areas with plant species of interest to prevent them from suffering damage during their growth.
