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As a Geoscience education and sustainable tourism company based in the Canary Islands, with a special interest in responsible science communication, we are in a unique position to document and analyse volcanic activity, readiness, reconstruction, and sustainable tourism practices. The VolcanoStories project by GeoTenerife is a multi-media project which aims to increase the awareness and understanding of volcanic preparedness, sustainable tourism, and geological research. To fulfil these aims we work with leading local, regional, and national institutions via our unique training programmes GeoIntern, VolcanoCamp, and MarineSciCamp, with students and scholars from around the globe. Our alumni work with us year-round to advance our research projects.
We aim to increase awareness and understanding of the impacts of the 2021 volcanic eruption and reconstruction in La Palma.
The Sustainable Tourism Project
We aim to increase awareness and understanding of the impacts of the mass tourism model in the Canary Islands on residents, the environment, and economic stability.
We aim to increase the awareness and understanding of volcanic risk, emergency plans, communication, and preparedness in the Canary Islands.
Our most recent projects
NEW: La Palma Reconstruction Update
La Palma Reconstruction – February 2025
701 out of 1,298 homes affected by the volcano have been paid for – Nieves Lady Barrato, Presidential Advisor in the Government of the Canary Islands. Government approves new National Hazard surveillance plan – The Government Council of Ministers has approved a National Plan for the Surveillance of Seismic, Volcanological and Geophysical Phenom
La Palma Reconstruction – January 2025
The president of the Cabildo de Tenerife has requested that the new Spanish National Volcanology Centre should be based across both Tenerife and La Palma. Pedro Sánchez, President of the Spanish Government, has announced more aid for those affected by the eruption from the Spanish Government. The documentary “On the Record: Chronicles of Ash and
La Palma Reconstruction – December 2024
• IGN has installed new sensors in Puerto Naos, bringing the total number of sensors in the network to close to 2,000. • The Cabildo de La Palma have delivered aid to families who have been affected by a fraud relating to the reconstruction of new homes. • A controversial miniseries ‘La Palma’ has been released on Netflix, following a fic
Campaign closed: 31st January
Thank you to all who have supported this campaign by filling in our survey – we are working on the results and will report back soon
Gracias a todos los que han apoyado esta campaña completando nuestra encuesta. Estamos trabajando en los resultados y les informaremos pronto.
NEW: El Puertito is classifified as an area of scientific interest and sponsored by 2,000+ volunteers
Puertito de Adeje sponsored by 1000 people
Thank you! We are over 1,000 sponsors helping to highlight the geology of Puertito de Adeje in Tener
Press release: Puertito de Adeje becomes a site of geologic interest
After several field campaigns, in association with a variety of experts and students, GeoTenerife h
New: Opinion Piece published on VolcanoStories
We aim to use our project to publish short-form articles, which are easy to read, and relevant to residents, especially La Palma’s reconstruction, volcanic readiness, and tourism practices in the Canary Islands. Available en Español and in English.
Lessons from La Palma helping to prepare Auckland for a future eruption
Volcanologists, Dr Geoff Kilgour and Dr Janine Kripner, travelled from New Zealand to visit La Palma to collaborate with GeoTenerife to research how the lava flows during the 2021 Tajogaite eruption impacted and destroyed thousands of homes. This research is essential to help inform scenario planning and modelling of future damages in the event of
ACERCA DEL PROGRAMA DE SALVADOS
Mónica María Riverol Cruz, family member of victims of the eruption of the Cumbre Vieja volcano on the island of La Palma in 2021, discusses the Salvados program on November 24, 2024 and how it portrays the recovery of La Palma in an inaccurate and incomplete manner by prioritising the voice of the Government Delegate in the Canary Islands over t
Published articles and Opinion pieces
We aim to use our project to publish short-form articles, which are easy to read, and relevant to residents, especially La Palma’s reconstruction, volcanic readiness, and tourism practices in the Canary Islands. Available en Español and in English. These articles are the opinions of our collaborating experts and staff but are referenced to scientific articles and news articles for you to find out more about the topics if you wish. Click on the title you would like to read to access the free academic paper:
Lessons from La Palma helping to prepare Auckland for a future eruption
Volcanologists, Dr Geoff Kilgour and Dr Janine Kripner, travelled from New Zealand to visit La Palma to collaborate with GeoTenerife to research how the lava flows during the 2021 Tajogaite eruption impacted and destroyed thousands of homes. This research is essential to help inform scenario planning and modelling of future damages in the event of an eruption in the densely populated Auckland prepare. This research was funded by the Natural Haza
ACERCA DEL PROGRAMA DE SALVADOS
Mónica María Riverol Cruz, family member of victims of the eruption of the Cumbre Vieja volcano on the island of La Palma in 2021, discusses the Salvados program on November 24, 2024 and how it portrays the recovery of La Palma in an inaccurate and incomplete manner by prioritising the voice of the Government Delegate in the Canary Islands over the residents experiences.
Lava Bombs Project
Lava Bombs: Truths Behind The Volcano captures the explosive stories behind the crisis and response to the 2021 Volcán de Tajogaite eruption in Cumbre Vieja on La Palma in the Canary Islands. Lava Bombs reveals the heavy impact of this major disaster, through the voices of the affected people, emergency managers, politicians and scientists, as well as showcasing spectacular imagery captured by witnesses, news crews and drone pilots. Themes of communication, trust and missteps are analysed as we start to look towards lessons learned for future emergencies of all kinds
Lava Bombs: The Reconstruction dives into what happens after the most destructive eruption in an island’s history ends. The eruption of the Tajogaite volcano hit international headlines in 2021, but LavaBombs Part 2 reveals the struggle to recover on this small island in the middle of the Atlantic. Through dramatic footage and intimate testimony from politicians, scientists, residents and activists this new documentary digs deep behind the headlines to unpick the successes and failures of the following two years post-eruption.
Urgent Events in the Canary Islands
We aim to collect and publish updates, from trustworthy news sources, regarding urgent events in the Canary Islands, so that residents and tourists alike can use this hub of information during an emergency and act as a record of events after the event has ended.
Demonstrations against unsustainable tourism
• Summarising key events in a simple timeline • Database of news coverage and social media responses • Resources on why the foundations are organising demonstrations • GeoTenerife's press releases and comments to the international media
Tens of thousands of Canarian residents protested on the 20th of April and October to make their concerns heard about unsustainable tourism; They want a new tourism model implemented that incorporates their concerns and protects their biodiverse paradise in the Atlantic. GeoTenerife compiles news resources and social media on this developing story below so that locals, students, researchers and journalists alike can access it openly.
Tenerife’s 2023 wildfire was the most devastating fire in the Canary Islands in the last 40 years and the most severe in Spain in 2023; The fire affected nearly 15,000 hectares, burning 7% of the surface of Tenerife, and causing 80.4 million euros of damage. The forest fire has caused approximately 12 million euros of damage to the agricultural sector, including 2,500-3,500 hives that were destroyed. In addition, it caused more than 12,000 people to have to be evacuated throughout the course of the fire, 364 farms and 246 buildings were affected. Up to 60 protected species may have been impacted by the forest fire, but the true impact on these species is not yet known.
The volcanic eruption on La Palma was preceded by a seismic swarm starting on September 11th, and by September 19th the volcano, later named Tajogaite, started erupting. Over the following weeks and months, the lava flows continued to advance, encroaching over 900 hectares of land and destroying more than 1,000 buildings. The eruption was accompanied by earthquakes with magnitudes up to 5.1 mbLg, occasionally felt across multiple Canary Islands.
Our Day-by-Day Eruption Updates from September 11th 2021 – December 25th 2021 includes:
- Maps of lava flows, earthquakes, and exclusion zones each day
- Summary of geological data released by IGN
- Twitter posts made by official Canarian civil service accounts and scientists
Outreach
Interviews
We are often interviewed by local, national, and international news sources for information about volcanic activity, forest fires, and more in the Canary Islands. We are happy to share our knowledge with as many people as possible.
Resident focus
Alongside our resident-focused science, we run the campaigns FFP2 and SamuLaPalma to support those affected by the La Palma 2021 eruption. Furthermore, we make school visits to encourage volcano science in younger Canarian Residents, and also make our internship programmes accessible to students who live in the Canary Islands to ensure our projects benefit the residents of the Canary Islands.
Conferences
We co-organise the annual VulcanaSymposium with the IEO and also attend other volcanological conferences, VMSG, IAVCEI, and COV12, to discuss our projects and their results with experts in the field of volcano science, in particular Q&As for our LavaBombs documentary. Our VolcanoStories Content Co-ordinator was invited to present at the Royal Holloway University Lyell Geology Day regarding the Tajogaite Eruption timeline project.
Collaborations
GeoTenerife is committed to fostering valuable collaborations with local, national, and international research institutions, to both conduct valuable geoscience research in the Canary Islands
We are always looking to welcome new collaborations, so if you or your company/research institution is interested in collaborating with us, please get in touch with us via enquiries@geotenerife.com
Our Collaborators include:
- IGN, Instituto Geográfico Nacional
- Dr Catalina Arguello, Social Psychologist, Universidad Internacional de La Rioja
- Dr Katy Chamberlain, Volcanologist, Liverpool University
- Dr Pablo Gonzalez, Volcano Geophysicist, Spanish National Research Council
and many more valued collaborators.
