The Cabildo announces an investment of more than 700,000 euros for the Canarian cedar conservation (Juniperus cedrus) in the National Park of Teide. The insular president, Pedro Martín, points out that “it is an important laboratory for studying biodiversity.” Each plant, each living being that is found within its limits “is a scientific sample that allows us to discover key aspects about species and their evolution,” points out Martín. The multi-annual item, until 2026, amounts specifically to 757,180 euros to finance a service to improve the forests of the species.
Pedro Martín highlights the research work being carried out in the Teide National Park, “where intense work is being done to preserve native species, as well as to control those that are not.” In the case of cedars, an important scientific effort is carried out that involves researchers from various universities. Among his studies and advances are the dating of specimens that are over 1,400 years old. The president remarked that it is “essential” to maintain the economic endowment of those projects that help maintain that biodiversity ”
The Canarian cedar is a species of Canary Islands and Madeira. Recent studies have shown the longevity of some specimens found in the Teide National Park.
On November 23, 2021, the study was published in the scientific journal Ecology of the Ecological Society of America showing that Bárbol, the Teide cedar discovered by the biologist of the National Park José Luis Martín Esquivel It is the oldest specimen of the old continent. The investigation led by his partner José Miguel Olano determined that he is at least 1,481 years old, since he was born in 541. However, the best known is the Patriarch, who is over 1,100 years old.
The cedars of the Park have been able to overcome five volcanic eruptions in the last 500 years, continuous rockfalls, and even so they have been able to develop in an arid and cold climate, with hardly any soil. At present, intense work is being carried out from the direction of the National Park with conservation and protection measures to recolonize the plains from which they were expelled.
Reinforcement of projects
The Councilor for Natural Environment Management and Security of the Cabildo, Isabel García, values that “in other times, cedars had a presence in the form of forests in Las Cañadas.” She adds: “The Cabildo reinforces and supports the projects initiated by the management of the National Park because we are aware of the importance of their development to increase and reinforce the biodiversity of this protected space.”
The work of this project includes the collection of seeds from specimens from the Teide environment, obtaining new trees in a nursery, planting them in the natural environment, as well as monitoring and control.
