Vilaflor de Chasna wants its “productive forest” project, in the so-called Huerta Grande, to go one step further than just – and it is not a small thing – producing food. He not only wants to distribute the rod, but also teach how to fish. That is the philosophy behind the procedures that the City Council has initiated before organizations such as the Canarian Employment Service (SCE) and which were reported by the mayor of the municipality, Agustina Beltrán.
The so-called Huerta Grande is an agricultural property that was abandoned, located at the back of the Casa de los Soler, from the 17th century. A vacant lot that stopped working in 2017 and has an area of 23,500 square meters.
All this until the Chasnera corporation took over the property thanks to a subsidy of half a million euros from the Cabildo of Tenerife, with funds from the Strategic Framework for Island Development (MEDI) and the Canary Islands Development Fund (Fdcan).
Development of the circular economy
The land was purchased at the beginning of the year and will be the space in which this training project with official qualification, which is called La Huerta Grande, is implemented. Training and Employment in Vilaflor de Chasna. The idea is that the exploitation of the farm and the knowledge it generates translates into training and employment for people who are unemployed or who can dedicate themselves to the primary sector.
All of this further influencing the idea of a circular economy that underlies productive forest projects, which seek sustainable development, food sovereignty and a model in which all of this generates social benefits in the environment.
Agustina Beltrán explained that, from the City Council, they are working on the necessary procedures to obtain official accreditation as a training center collaborating with the SCE, as well as to provide agricultural and environmental training specialties to the population of the Southern Region.
However, and until that happens, the municipal intention is to offer a varied training program aimed at these sectors, in collaboration with the Canary Islands Association for the Promotion of Social Development Generation 21, a “reference entity on the Island in matters work, training and social,” said the mayor of Vilaflor.
The “perfect scenario” to train
Agustina Beltrán pointed out that “during this year, specific actions have been carried out to restore the agricultural landscape through agroforestry techniques to enhance the quality of the soil and implement a productive forest model in the Huerta Grande, thus creating the perfect scenario for carrying out practical training associated with professional certificates and other vocational training actions for employment”, as well as “training pills”.
Almost 1.4 million euros in aid
The Huerta Grande project in Vilaflor de Chasna is a paradigm shift that has received numerous public aid. To the half a million euros for the purchase of the property, we must add more than 659,000 euros for the execution of the project, as well as 211,000 euros for the training of thirteen people in charge of a subsidy, also from the island corporation.
Of the total square meters of the land, around one hectare has been dedicated to cultivation, while the rest is occupied, or will be occupied, by gardens, paths, the plant treatment plant and the greenhouse, which is underground and takes advantage of the thermal insulation provided by the plant itself. place, formed by terraces and walls.
