SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, 26 Aug (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Tenerife Island Council, through its Primary Sector department, will rehabilitate the chestnut agrosystem impacted by the fire that broke out on the island in August 2023. This initiative has been assigned to the company Transformación Agraria SA (Tragsa) with funding of 1,667,136 euros over the next four years, spanning from 2014 to 2027.
This announcement was made on Monday by the Minister for Primary Sector and Animal Welfare, Valentín González, who emphasised that “the restoration of the chestnut agrosystem impacted by the 2023 fire is extremely intricate, as it involves multiple actions, each presenting its own specific challenges.”
He noted that “it is essential to ascertain the identities of the owners of the areas in question. Valle de Güímar, Valle de La Orotava and the Acentejo area, located in the midlands, are the three primary chestnut-producing regions in Tenerife, marking this initiative as pioneering within the Canary Islands.”
The goal of this assignment, as highlighted by Valentín González, is “to facilitate collaboration with the local councils and entities impacted by the assignment, in addition to working on identifying owners. It also involves conducting Participatory Rural Diagnosis to enhance the chestnut agrosystem, producing chestnut trees for the replacement of deceased specimens, restoring affected agricultural plots by promoting the conditioning of orchards and improving access, as well as performing planting and post-planting tasks of the chestnut trees produced to replenish those lost to the fire.”
Valentín González recalled that it is estimated that approximately 650 hectares were scorched during the blaze, mostly comprising traditional agricultural systems of immense ecological significance.
To alleviate the adverse effects caused by the fire, the Tenerife Island Council has endorsed the restoration and preservation of the affected agricultural systems through financial assistance, enabling the repair of the damages incurred.
FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE
Through an initial line of grants, support has been provided for the acquisition, installation, or restoration of machinery, irrigation systems, agricultural buildings, and structures – including tool sheds, warehouses, fences, greenhouses, windbreaks, water tanks, walls, and similar constructions.
Furthermore, in May, a working meeting was convened at the Cabildo de Tenerife with the local councils of Arafo, Candelaria, La Orotava, El Rosario, Tacoronte, El Sauzal, La Matanza, La Victoria, and Santa Úrsula, where extensive areas of chestnut trees belonging to century-old agrosystems were identified.
The Cabildo has sought the cooperation of local councils to identify over 15,000 affected farms, allowing for the development of various recovery initiatives, integrating this project as a pilot within the working group focusing on the mobilisation of underused agricultural land, in an organised manner with the Government of the Canary Islands.
Among the measures endorsed by the Minister for the Primary Sector are the updating of the Participatory Rural Diagnosis and the establishment of a nursery, as “due to the chestnut canker, safely importing chestnut plants is unfeasible; therefore, they must be cultivated on the island, utilising the resources of the Tenerife Agricultural Conservation Centre (CCBAT).”
