Tenerife forum

[bardofely]

In Las Galletas on the wasteland adjacent to the road in front of the beach there are freshwater and brackish pools and some of these are there not only when it rains. This is shown by the fact that a species of rush is well established and that dragonflies, damselflies and thousands of small fish can be found there. The fish are probably mosquito fish but it is hard to see without catching any. They are all in the same pool which clearly doesn't dry out. These main pools cannot be seen from the road but can be found if you walk across the area.

As well as all these forms of aquatic wildlife several species of wading bird use the site for feeding and possibly for breeding purposes too. I am no expert on waders but have seen some type of plover and also a species of curlew there.

I know that freshwater habitats are rare in Tenerife and that many species of bird are threatened with extinction. In the UK such an area might be conserved as a wetland environment and I would suggest that it would be a good idea to do this here. The cost to the local authority would be minimal to maintain the site in good order because it maintains itself, and I have sent my suggestion to Arona council by e-mail. What may appear as just a few acres of useless waste ground is home to many species of wildlife and I say it should be protected as a nature reserve.

Here is a picture:


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[bardofely]

From Roger Diss the editor of The Western Sun:

Many thanks for your email with the suggestion of a nature reserve for Las Galletas. I intend to use it as a letter in our next edition.
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[andy]

Great news bardofely!

All yours posts are very sophisticated and very informative. Thanks for all that info and I am waiting for your next one. I really enjoy them.

Thx
Andy

[bardofely]

Thanks for the compliments, Andy, and the story has just been approved for the Greenpeace Cyberactivist news pages too:

http://act.greenpeace.org/1109516372/index_html
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[bardofely]

Thanks for the compliments, Andy, and the story has just been approved for the Greenpeace Cyberactivist news pages too:

http://act.greenpeace.org/1109516372/index_html
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[rob]

Is this where the new golf course is going? Could be incorporated which will help even more.

[bardofely]

Great idea, Rob, but no the golf course is going behind the Chayofita complex where I am at present. The area I am on about is right next to Las Galletas town and I believe a sewage treatment works may be going there...at least I read a report about one being put somewhere near there.

Bard
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[etenerife]

[bardofely]

Thanks for your message, etenerife! Yes, I have seen the petrol station you mention and if this is it then the area I was on about is at the moment safe. BTW, I saw a single treefrog tadpole in one of the pools and found out, as I suspected, that the others would have been eaten by the vast numbers of mosquito fish in these pools and the dragonfly and damselfly larvae. Here is a site all about this problem: http://www.faultline.org/archives/001852.html

I have been thinking that these fish could be moved in batches into fountain pools throughout the island where they would be of no danger to amphibians and could eat the vast numbers of mosquito larvae that are often present.
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[etenerife]

Wouldn´t that make a fabulous school project! Biology, conservation and splashing about in water all at the same time.

I used to get involved in beach clean ups and tree planting with schools and corporations in another place and another life. Wonder if it would work here...

[bardofely]

Sounds a great idea to me!
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