Two of Lanzarote´s leading natural wonders and tourist attractions will be coming in for important maintenance and preservation work this year. As plans have been approved to restore the Green Lagoon at El Golfo to its former glory. Whilst a budget of almost €450,000 has been earmarked for work at the Timanafaya National Park.
The Green Lagoon at El Golfo has been slowly shrinking in recent years. But now the island government has resolved to reverse this process. With Lanzarote´s Coastal Department planning to implement a dredging project to ensure that this unique attraction is restored to its former glory after many years of encroaching sediment have diminished its surface area. Silt has gradually built up underwater reducing the lake’s size as the action of the wind and waves have pushed the sand further and further up the beach in front of it.
This project should be underway by the beginning of the summer, following an agreement between the Cabildo of Lanzarote and the Coastal Department to ensure that this ecologically sensitive area is saved from further erosion and destruction.
Also under discussion at present are plans to restore the dyke which protects the salt flats at Las Salinas de Janubio, which has also been diminished over time by the same fierce wind and wave action. Likewise, three of the existing footpaths that traverse the island will also be the subject of rehabilitation. These are the walks between Punta Mujeres and Jameos del Agua, La Santa and Famara and Orzola and La Canteria.
In a separate meeting, the Canarian Government has also agreed to fund almost 450,000 euros for a total of sixteen projects in the Timanfaya National Park area of Lanzarote. This grant forms part of a larger plan to undertake a number of projects in the national parks across the Canarian archipelago. The total amount of money set aside is 1,755,000 euros for projects in Timanfaya, the park of Garajonay in La Gomera, El Teide in Tenerife and the Caldera de Taburiente in La Palma.
The funds that have been earmarked for Timanfaya will be partly used to pay for the building and reconditioning of walls and roads through the park. A total of sixteen projects will be financed with the 446,000 euros that the Government will provide.
