by Katy Chamberlain, Volcanology Lecturer at Liverpool University, and Alexis Schwartz, Volcanologist and GeoTenerife Lecturer.

The southwest of Tenerife has experienced considerable urban development with the construction of hotels, recreational complexes, theme parks and other infrastructures that serve and provide access to the influx of visitors. Undeniably, the development and construction of these facilities and infrastructures has consequences for the natural environment, resulting in pressure on natural habitats, or directly in their disappearance. This is particularly critical and controversial when habitats of Community interest are affected. Urban planning (the land-use plan), which is drawn up prior to any construction project, is a determining factor in ensuring that tourism development is compatible with the non-destruction of these habitats.

It is also noteworthy that the conflict between urban development and the protection of the natural environment arises from the intention to carry out a tourist project, the need for which is questionable, and not from the intention to build or fit out residential housing, which, unlike the former, does represent a real need for the island’s resident population.

These habitat types are natural sites which have been designated in order to facilitate their monitoring and effective management. They are listed in Annex I of Directive 92/43/EEC. When it is necessary to implement restrictive measures to ensure the conservation of a habitat, SACs (Special Areas of Conservation) are designated. If the measures are specifically aimed at guaranteeing the survival and reproduction of certain bird species, SPAs (Special Protection Areas for Birds) are established. These areas are protected areas under EU legislation and together they form the Natura 2000 network. The Natura 2000 network is a European ecological network of protected areas created to conserve biodiversity and ensure the long-term survival of species and natural habitats, to halt the loss of biodiversity and to ensure that the objective of the Habitats Directive is achieved.

European legislation does not require the establishment of protection for natural habitats of Community interest when they are not part of the Natura 2000 network. However, basic Spanish legislation (art. 46.2 of Law 42/2007) states that “The competent bodies, within the framework of the procedures provided for in the environmental assessment legislation, must adopt the necessary measures to avoid the deterioration, pollution and fragmentation of habitats and disturbances affecting species outside the Natura 2000 Network, insofar as these phenomena have a significant effect on the conservation status of these habitats and species”. In parallel (art. 48) and both for HNIC, inside and outside Natura 2000, the public administrations “[…] shall monitor the conservation status of habitat types and species of Community interest, taking particular account of priority natural habitat types […]” and also “[…] shall send to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and the Environment information on changes in conservation status […]”.

This means that the state of conservation of habitats designated by the Habitats Directive must be monitored or supervised, whether or not they are included in the Natura 2000 Network. Therefore, in terms of impact prevention, there is an obligation to avoid their deterioration and fragmentation.

By Silvia Paglia, University of Milano Bicocca, and Laurence Lane, University of Leicester

Introduction

Cymodocea nodosa is the most important seagrass distributed along the eastern Atlantic Coast including the Macaronesian oceanic archipelagos of the Canary Islands and Madeira (Oliva et al., 2012). Seagrasses form extensive meadows (Green and Short, 2003) and are a vital marine ecosystem in sandy bottoms.

Seagrass meadows serve as a nursery habitat for fishes and invertebrates (Honda et al., 2013; Jackson et al., 2001). Seagrasses also provide important regulating services such as improving water quality by increasing sediment settling (Ward et al., 1984), nutrient retention (Verweij et al., 2008), and protecting the coastline from turbulent waves (Koch et al., 2006; Paul, 2017). More recent scientific studies have been focused also on the potential carbon sequestration in seagrasses  (Kennedy et al., 2010).

However, a study by Espino et al. (2015) has shown a decrease in coverage of seagrass in the islands of Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, Tenerife, and Fuerteventura. Waycott et al. (2009) attribute deterioration in seagrass meadows to five primary serious factors, often in combination: over-exploitation, physical modification, nutrient and sediment pollution, the introduction of non-native species and global climate change.  

The genus Caulerpa prolifera is a green algal species with a worldwide distribution in tropical and subtropical shallow water marine habitats (Famà et al., 2002). It is typically common in areas with high organic matter content and bays with low flow where it forms meadows or patches. The colonisation of a new area by C. prolifera is driven by boat anchoring that can fragment algae and transport them into new places. C. prolifera is an opportunistic alga that often replaces C. nodosa by out-competing the seagrass for nutrients in the sediment (Ceccherelli and Cinelli, 1997).

Furthermore, Tropical algae are an ever-growing threat to the unique biodiverse volcanic islands and archipelagos of Macaronesia (Cerrato et al., 2023). For the Canary Islands, Halimeda incrassata (Fig. 5) has begun to impose itself into the ecosystems and coastal niches of which Cymodocea nodosa (sebadales) are endemic to. This invasive transition has been observable from the west as the tropical Caribbean calcareous macroalgae. Halimeda incrassata established itself in La Palma (Sangil et al., 2018) before becoming detectable in southwestern Tenerife. The inversion of Seagrass meadows to a Halimeda incrassata patch also impacts the carbon being absorbed from the atmosphere into the marine plants; H. incrassata dramatically reduce the dissolved organic carbon in the water. 

The soils of the topographically lower areas of the islands have been historically exploited from aboriginal livestock farming, through exploitation for firewood, cochineal production, sugar cane, tomato, banana and greenhouse crops, to the development of tourism. This, together with the arid conditions of the environment, has led to its impoverishment, degradation and erosion. Currently, massive tourism activity is the main agent transforming the coasts, which has irreversibly modified and destroyed coastal ecosystems since the second half of the 20th century.

In the Puertito and La Caleta area, a large part of the land is used for agricultural purposes. The landscape of the area is partially modified by plots of crops, most of which have been abandoned, surrounded by the vegetation typical of Canarian coastal scrubland. The transformation of the soil can be seen in the terracing found in the topographically higher areas and in the lower course of the ravines. However, this is one of the few coasts in the south-southeast of the island that has remained unmodified on a massive scale, and it is therefore an enclave that preserves the native fauna, flora and geological values.

Coastal shrub community

The tabaibal-cardonal is the mature community of coastal scrub that characterises the Canarian vegetation of lowland and coastal areas. It is made up of numerous endemic species, both from the archipelago as a whole and specific to certain islands, and other non-endemic species. These include the sweet tabaiba (Euphorbia balsamifera) and the cardón (Euphorbia canariensis), which give the community its name. Also of note are the bitter tabaiba (Euphorbia regis-jubae), the verode (Kleinia neriifolia), the cornical (Periploca laevigata), the woody wood (Convolvus scoparius), the gorse (Launaea arborecens) and the tasaigo (Rubia fruticosa), among others. It is the habitat of endemic animal species, such as the blight lizard, but especially for invertebrate animals. These communities are home to endangered species, and therefore included in the national and Canarian catalogues of endangered species, such as the sad viburnum (Echium triste). The cardón is of great importance for other plant species, as a considerable number of shrubs are associated with it, either because they take advantage of the microclimatic conditions offered by its candelabra-shaped stems, which can reach large dimensions, or because it offers protection to certain species such as the cornical. In the shelter of this vegetation, birds adapted to the arid climate also nest, such as the southern grey shrike (Lanius meridionalis koenigi), the black warbler (Warbler conspicillata), the great crested pipit (Anthus berthelotii) and the common stone curlew (Burhinus oedicnemus). In addition, a well-preserved tabaibal-cardonal is a barrier against the expansion of exotic species, as native species are better competitors in the face of adverse environmental conditions that occur in this habitat, such as water stress.

This community is recognised in habitat type 5330 of the habitats of Community interest of the European Union. In the past it was much larger in extent, but the historical evolution of this vegetation has been very negative. The extent of the present-day tabaibal-cardonal could be 15-20 % of the original distribution. It is expected that over time the coastal scrub will naturally regenerate in abandoned cultivated areas that are not subject to further disturbance. However, where transformation and impact on the original natural habitat has been profound, the process of spontaneous regeneration does not work and requires the design of an ecological restoration project.

Whether in other natural areas or in urbanised public spaces such as planters, replanting is not a real solution, as it implies the destruction of their natural habitat and the loss of the ecosystem making it difficult to guarantee the survival of the specimens. Moreover, endangered species are represented by one or very few populations, so there is a high risk of loss. This risk has materialised with the start of the project works, which have moved large quantities of earth and uprooted plant specimens which have been left to die.

The urban transformation of this site means the loss of one of the few relicts of well-preserved coastal scrubland that persists in the south of Tenerife and which has endemic taxa that do not exist elsewhere. In conclusion, it is always necessary to carry out a review of the plant communities and specimens in an area in order to evaluate their content and state effectively, and thus prevent possible environmental aggressions that may be carried out due to ignorance or oblivion of their ecological importance.

by Steven Godby Principal Lecturer at Nottingham Trent University.

With an ever-increasing number of tourists demanding more sustainable holidays, the language of sustainability is being used to sell holidays. But how accurate are they, and how is the Cuna del Alma resort using sustainable language to mask the real impacts of the project?

The seven sins of greenwashing were identified by Terrawatch in 2007 to assist consumers in identifying and understanding misleading and/or false environmental claims:

1. The sin of the hidden trade-off. This sin focuses on one narrow pro-environmental attribute whilst neglecting to bring attention to more important and wider environmental issues of relevance.
2. The sin of no proof. As the name suggests, this sin is committed if environmental claims are made without any credible evidence to support them.
3. The sin of vagueness. This sin relates to claims that are broad and not clearly defined, which are consequently likely to be misunderstood by consumers.
4. The sin of worshipping false labels. This sin is committed by companies who create ‘sustainability’ certifications or labels that are simply false. These can mislead consumers by creating the illusion that a product or service has been independently certified as environmentally sustainable through a legitimate third-party screening process when this is not the case in reality.
5. The sin of irrelevance. This relates to environmental claims that may be truthful but unimportant due to quite simply being irrelevant.
6. The sin of the lesser of two evils. This sin relates to environmental claims of products that are inherently damaging to the environment. While all products use natural resources and energy to some extent, some industries and products are more environmentally damaging than others.
7. The sin of fibbing. The final sin describes false environmental claims.

These sins are sometimes considered to be product-level greenwashing. Scanlan (2017) cited in de Freitas Netto et al. (2020) proposed additional sins related to the conceptualisation of greenwashing based on research in the oil and gas industry:

1. The sin of false hopes: a claim that reinforces false hope.
2. The aim of fearmongering: claims that fabricate insecurity related to not “buying in” on an organizational practice.
3. The sin of broken promises: claims promising that activity will lift up poor, rural communities, but evidence shows the contrary leaving communities with irreversible impacts.
4. The sin of injustice: environmental communication focuses on a segment of the population that benefits from an activity but does not suffer its consequences.
5. The sin of profits over people and the environment: potentially the greatest greenwashing sin of all according to Scanlon (2017).

The following text explains how quotes taken from the Cuna del Alma ‘Eco-Manifesto’ page  are examples of greenwashing: 

Law 4/2017, of 13 July, on Land and Protected Natural Spaces of the Canary Islands, establishes the regulations and guidelines for the use and management of land in the Canary Islands. It is the legal instrument used by municipalities in the elaboration of their land use plans, which assign a class of land (urban, urbanisable or rustic) to each territory.

In the area of Puertito de Adeje there are two main types of land: rustic and developable. Rustic land is land that has not been urbanised and has not been classified as developable. They may be excluded from transformation if they are subject to a regime of environmental, landscape or historical heritage protection in the Canary Islands, or are worthy of such protection in order to maintain their characteristics of natural, landscape, cultural, scientific, historical, archaeological or environmental value; also due to the existence of natural or technological risks, and when their preservation is appropriate due to their agricultural, livestock, forestry, hunting, mining or natural wealth.

Once the elements or characteristics present in a territory classified as rural land are known, a series of categories and subcategories are established. Currently, the following are found in the Puertito area:

• SRPT1: Rustic Land of Territorial Protection. This category corresponds to the common rustic land (SRC) according to the Land Law.
• SRPC: Rustic Land for Coastal Protection. It corresponds to the maritime-terrestrial public domain and is protected by the Coastal Law.
• SRPI: Rustic Land for Infrastructure Protection. Intended for the construction of new roads.
• SRPP: Rural Land for Landscape Protection. It corresponds to the Site of Scientific Interest of La Caleta.

Land for development is destined for urban transformation. To classify new land for development, a series of criteria must be considered, which are set out in the same law. In addition to this, rural land with any of the above-mentioned types of protection or value cannot be declassified. It is therefore essential to recognise the presence of these values in land-use plans, as their omission could favour the loss of natural and cultural elements that must be preserved, as indicated in the law.

The current development plan for Puertito was approved by Adeje Town Council on 1 March 2019 (Aprobación definitiva de la revisión parcial 02 del Plan General de Ordenación de Adeje en el ámbito del Sector SO6 Puertito de Adeje, BOC 096/19 and BOP de Santa Cruz de Tenerife 087/19), and consists of the sectorisation of land for development (SUOR) in the Puertito area, earmarking it for a series of detailed uses including hotel buildings, tourist flats and other recreational facilities.

Residents of Puertito claim that they were not properly informed of the change in the classification of the land on which their homes are located, which is now classified in the current land use plan as urbanisable for commercial use. The plan can be consulted in GRAFCAN and in the Canary Islands Planning Database.

Taking into account the natural and cultural elements present in this territory, it would be advisable to adjust the land-use plan to preserve them, either by extending the area of the S.I.C. of La Caleta or by redefining the sectorisation and detailed uses of the current plan. According to the law, land deserving some kind of protection must be classified as rustic land, in the sub-category corresponding to the element or feature to be protected (flora, fauna, geological heritage, landscape heritage, etc.). It would be appropriate to restore the areas to be protected or, in the case of natural systems, to provide them with the necessary conservation conditions to allow their natural restoration.

The Cuna del Alma presents itself on its ‘Eco-manifesto page’ as environmentally sustainable and caring about protecting biodiversity. Our analysis of these claims finds that there lacks much evidence to support the claims made furthermore, our research of the vegetation, geology, habitats, and marine environment shows that the environment will be negatively affected by the Cuna del Alma project’s construction. 

Most deposits produced by explosive eruptions (“ignimbrites”) of the Las Cañadas volcano have been destroyed by erosion given their old age and human activity; only a small proportion of them has been preserved in the geological record. El Puertito contains some of the best-preserved outcrops of the Adeje and Fañabé ignimbrites from eruptions over 1.5 million years ago. Unit D, E, and F of the Adeje eruption show evidence of partial welding, which is not just particularly rare in Tenerife but of international scientific interest. 

El Puertito contains four types of habitats for community interest: sandbanks, reefs, Mediterranean shrubland, and Macaronesian cliffs, all of which are usually protected to conserve and protect the ecosystem functions they provide for species. Not only, are El Puertito’s habitats of community interest not protected, but they are also actively threatened to become deteriorated or fragmented by the construction of the Cuna del Alma project. 

The shrubland present in El Puertito provides habitats to birds such as the grey shrike. The extent of the present-day tabaibal-cardonal is only 15-20 % of the original distribution.The urban transformation of this site would  cause the loss of one of the few remaining relicts of well-preserved coastal scrubland that persists in the south of Tenerife.

The marine environment of El Puertito has already started to suffer from human activity caused by invasive species colonisation; pollution from the South coast of Tenerife is causing the seagrass meadows to be outcompeted by species of tropical algae and boat anchoring is causing native species of algae to replace seagrass meadows. The ecosystem functions that seagrass meadows provide are vast and at risk: providing nursery habitats to fish, improving water quality, and reducing turbulent wave destruction. This will have impacts across the marine ecosystem surrounding El Puertito.

El Puertito has been designated as “Land Suitable for Planned Urban Development”, despite neighbouring the La Caleta Site of Scientific Interest and the Teno-Rasca Marine Special Area of Conservation. To maintain the conservation aims of the currently protected zones and to preserve the identified unique geology, ecology, and archaeological features of El Puertito we propose that the La Caleta environmental protection zone be extended to cover El Puertito and introduce a Cultural Protection Zone.