'Project Natalie' new life to Maspalomas Pond

 

The Department of Environment and Environmental Policies of the San Bartolomé de Tirajana City Council, led by councilor Araceli Armas Cruz, participated this Tuesday in the first workshop of the 'Natalie Project' that the European Union finances with 15 million euros to study how to reverse the effects of climate change in highly affected natural environments, with the Maspalomas basin and especially the Maspalomas Charca environment being one of the strategic points chosen for this study.

 

 

Araceli Armas highlighted the importance for Maspalomas of choosing the Special Natural Reserve of the Dunes and La Charca, a “unique place of great ecological value,” she said, as a case study in the 'Natalie Project'. “We have a great responsibility in the common fight against climate change and this project is presented as a fundamental opportunity for public and private participation,” she stated.

 

In that sense, around thirty representatives of neighborhood and business interest groups such as the Canaragua entity participated in the workshop held at the Hotel Villa del Conde. Its director of Sustainable Development and Social Action, Rafael Herrera Checa, warned of “the importance of getting to work now in the face of the effects of climate change, which are visible, such as droughts, heat waves or rising sea levels. . This project goes beyond adaptation to climate change. It has a much more global perspective, because it is about seeking solutions based on nature itself,” he stressed.

 

The island's Minister of Environment, Climate and Energy, Raúl García Brink, chaired the workshop. He highlighted that “citizen participation in the fight and search for solutions against climate change is increasingly important, and that is why we are seeking the consensus of the different actors in the Maspalomas environment.” He announced that next October the general assembly of the project will be held in Maspalomas, which will bring together all the European partners in Gran Canaria to assess in situ the solutions to climate change.

 

The 'Natalie Project' brings together 42 partners throughout Europe and develops its study activity in eight enclaves that replicate five others. The process lasts five years, until August 2028. In Gran Canaria, in addition to Canaragua, the University of La Laguna, the company Aquatec and the Geological and Mining Institute of Spain collaborate.

 

The objective of Natalie's first workshop in Maspalomas was to gather the opinions of attendees about the climate risks of the area under study, identifying actions that help find answers to environmental challenges. The process will continue with successive workshops to plan and develop these actions and, starting in January 2026, work will be done on the long term and the possibilities of replicating the project in other areas of Gran Canaria and on other islands.