Would you like to volunteer to help in the official reforestation effort on Gran Canaria? The official Cabildo project is called Greening Gran Canaria. The Canary is working with the Volunteer Network Gran Canaria, and the Nabojelpen project in Arguineguín, to organise community involvement from English speaking residents on the island, with transport funded by donations to The Long Walk 2017.
If you would like to be included in future communications regarding this effort, please email GreeningGranCanaria@TheCanaryGuide.com
The Cabildo has opened a reforestation project for Gran Canaria to citizen participation, with a calendar of actions that will begin in areas affected by last September’s wildfire. They expect exceed 20,000 volunteers given the interest shown by individuals, schools, companies and groups to get involved in Greening Gran Canaria
This was announced last week by the President of the Cabildo de Gran Canaria, Antonio Morales, along with the Minister of Environment, Miguel Ángel, who added that the institution and the citizen collaboration will not only succeed in ensuring a greener island for future generations, but also create youth awareness of the importance to protect the environment.
For this ambitious plan, which goes far beyond the recovery from the fire, the Cabildo already has the €4.5 million Green Forestry Fund approved earlier this year, in addition to the €500,000 approved by the Canary Islands Government after the fire and €300,000 from the State.
The area affected by the fire is the one that needs a most immediate intervention, and in fact work to treat and prepare the land began as soon as the fire was declared fully extinguished, so as to stop the effects of erosion and to assess damages that the arrival of torrential rains could potentially create. If we only receive light rains this year it will allow the greenery to begin to sprout.
An area of 1,930 hectares affected by the fire has been assessed, leading to the conclusion that 70% is Canarian pine, where it may not be necessary to intervene at all, even reaching up toward 96% if urban or agricultural lands are included allowing for the initial interventions to be centered around the remaining 4% in need of direct intervention. On that basis Morales has calculated that they will concentrate reforestation efforts on around ten percent of the area, which supposes some 200 hectares or replanting and associated work.
20 members of the bravo teams began to prepare the ground for these actions, which are not only limited to planting, it also covers irrigation, cleaning and even sponsorship of plots.
Those who wish to participate in voluntary environmental actions only have to register at the webpage voluntariado (only in Spanish)
Individuals, neighborhood associations, business personnel and general volunteering is invited on Sundays between now and December 10, and then restarting again on Sunday January 14.
