The processing of the Draft Bill on Biodiversity and Natural Resources of the Canary Islands has generated a strong response from Animal Rights Party PACMAThe party has filed formal objections with the Directorate General for the Natural Environment. They argue that the current text ignores scientific and ethical advancements that recognize animals as sentient beings, focusing their criticism on the use of hunting and population control through lethal measures in the archipelago.
PACMA questions the "urgent processing" of the legislation, arguing that the lack of speed in previous versions of the text contradicts the need to shorten the deadlines for citizen participation now. The party demands that the animal welfare become the guiding principle of the law, rejecting terms such as "invasive species" because of their stigmatizing nature and proposing ethical alternatives to the eradication of fauna, especially in sensitive areas of southern Gran Canaria where biodiversity is critical.
One of the biggest points of friction is the management of the feline coloniesPACMA warns that the ban on feeding cats in protected areas clashes with state legislation and blocks the method CER (capture, sterilization, and return). The party argues that integrating hunting as a planning tool within a biodiversity law is a conceptual contradiction, maintaining that hunting activity generates ecological imbalances instead of protecting island ecosystems.
The animal rights proposal urges the Canary Islands Government to abandon the population control model based on the killing of animals and to transform the zoos and exhibition centers in sanctuaries and rehabilitation reserves. PACMA concludes that the draft bill should be reformulated under a preventive and ethical approach, eliminating the commercialization of exotic species for hunting purposes and prioritizing respect for animal sentience as the basis of environmental conservation on the islands.
