Almost 75% reduction in Canarian national parks budget being proposed for 2013

[Janet]

Some are using words like "brutal mutilation", others are saying that the national parks themselves will effectively disappear, the figures are hard to pin down definitively ... but whichever way you look at it, the current budget being proposed for the Canaries next year by the region's own Government is devastating for the national parks. The Dirección General de Protección de la Naturaleza of the Consejería de Educación Universidad y Sostenibilidad is facing the loss of some €4,264,931, an incredible 73.48 % reduction from 2012′s investment. What particularly worries some is the regional Government's ability to fight fires in the forests, something that will be very much in the minds of many in Tenerife and La Gomera in particular after last summer's devastating blazes.

Amongst others, national park tour guides themselves are calling on everyone who cares about this wonderful natural space to sign a petition against the proposed budget cuts. We all know money's tight and that the region itself has to set priorities, but no-one surely believes that the Teide national park is not well up the list of those priorities, and that there must be an alternative to a 75% cut in funding. Please have a look HERE if you are concerned about this issue: if you scroll down the page to the end of the Spanish text, you'll see the detailed information and explanation in English as well, and there's a box at the top of the page too where you can sign the petition if you would like. JA

[NAH]

Thank you for bringing this to our attention.  Petition signed.

[Michael]

Yep. Me too. Signed and a few people invited to sign on Facebook.