The beekeeping sector supports the strategy of the council to guarantee the future of the activity on the Island. In this sense, the Insular Board of Beekeeping endorses the five allegations presented by the Corporation to the draft of the Master Plan for the Use and Management of the Teide National Park (PRUG). The Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, Javier Parrilla, values the fact that the beekeeping associations have endorsed the allegations that the technical service of Quality and Agrifood Valorization will present to the PRUG.
Parrilla presented in this framework the lines of the new development strategy of the insular beekeeping sector. It is a program of measures with which it is intended to respond to the structural and health problems of the sector, promote professionalization, the conservation of pollinator populations and their habitats and promote research.
Grill recalled that “beekeeping is a traditional use practiced in the Teide National Park during centuries”; For this reason, he added, “the defense of beekeeping transhumance and the non-reduction of the number of hives in protected natural spaces is something that cannot be renounced”.
The PRUG draft indicates that the Park will only be able to host 1,200 hives in the same season, however, the Cabildo plans to increase this figure to 3,000. “The sector is currently going through a phase of maturity, so there may be moderate and non-damaging growth. So, if we have to put a number, let’s do it thinking about the future, “said the counselor of the primary sector.
From the area it is also proposed to eliminate the rotating distribution of the hives; the consideration of beekeeping as part of the tangible and intangible cultural value of the National Park, and its inclusion in the catalog of existing cultural assets. “We are facing a traditional use, and the centuries of coexistence in this natural space, show its ability to conserve the environment,” added Parrilla.
Finally, the creation of a framework for collaboration and cooperation with the associations and representatives of the groups involved is proposed with traditional uses, being able to even create a sectorial monitoring commission. Javier Parrilla explains that the objective is to collaborate with all the associations of the Island to generate a consensus document that allows the implementation of a Strategic Plan in Defense of Beekeeping. “We have presented our draft to the sector and now it is about the associations studying it and making all the contributions and modifications they consider necessary.”
Once analyzed, the island councilor anticipates that three work tables will be held, the first in September, to define the document and take it to plenary for final approval.
A “solid” document
The attendees valued the holding of this meeting, as well as the solidity of the document presented. The island official, for his part, recalled that beekeeping “has a transversal impact on the productive chain of the agricultural sector and the conservation of biodiversity, as well as on the agricultural policies that the Cabildo develops; hence the need to lay the foundations for a continuous and lasting project that contributes to guaranteeing the future and sustainability of this traditional activity».
The program, aligned with the strategy for the protection of pollinating and honey species, includes more than 40 actions, among which the promotion of integrated pest management and the preparation of a manual of good practices in agriculture stand out.
