Renatura Project Begins Monte de Las Mesas Reforestation

Despite the rain, wind, and freezing cold yesterday morning, the first phase of the Renatura Monte de Las Mesas project officially began. This initiative aims to restore the natural environment of this area. With support from the Santa Cruz Sostenible Foundation (part of the city council), the Cabildo, and the Moeve Foundation, and scientific guidance from the University of La Laguna (ULL), 450 native plants were put into the ground. The long-term goal, over the next ten years, is to bring back the original thermophilic forest that once thrived here.

The plants being introduced include wild olive trees, scrubland, junipers, mastic trees, dragon trees, and traditional fruit trees like chestnuts. These will be planted in stages across Monte de Las Mesas, eventually creating a large green corridor. This corridor will help reconnect native species between the Anaga Biosphere Reserve and the nearby urban areas.

Victoria Eugenia Martín, a professor from the ULL's Department of Botany, Ecology, and Plant Physiology, explained that work on this project began in 2022. Its goal is to restore the vegetation that once grew in this area. To achieve this, seeds and plant parts (propagules) were collected to identify and catalog different species. Currently, 1,200 plants are being prepared in a greenhouse at the Faculty of Pharmacy. These will help regenerate Santa Cruz's largest natural space.

In total, 180,000 square meters of Monte de Las Mesas will be restored. This process involved detailed preparatory work, including bioclimatic mapping and creating a vegetation map of the area, before the first plants went into the ground yesterday and today.

This 'rebirth' of plants in their natural home also saw the involvement of 200 vocational training students from schools across the island, along with staff from the Anaga Massif Biosphere Reserve. Armed with hoes and volcanic gravel, they persevered with the planting, even in the rain. Professor Martín called the rain 'a gift from nature' that will help the plants grow. She added that recent years of drought had made it impossible to have ideal conditions for replanting the mountain until now.

Pedro Millán, the Island Director of the Natural Environment, explained that the project will restore an area that was once completely deforested. Historically, people came here to collect wood for cooking before gas was available. He said the aim is to bring back this 'green lung' in a semi-urban area, highlighting that collaboration between public and private sectors, along with local residents passionate about protecting natural heritage, has been crucial.

Carlos Tarife, vice-president of the Santa Cruz Sostenible Foundation, stated that "restoring native vegetation in Las Mesas is essential for preserving the area's biodiversity and securing its future, moving us towards a more sustainable city."

Belén Machado, head of the Moeve Foundation in the Canary Islands, expressed pride in contributing to this collaborative project with the Tenerife Cabildo and the city council. She explained that the conservation of this thermophilic forest began with the first planting after a careful two-year process. This included a geobotanical study to identify the area's potential vegetation, followed by collecting, cleaning, and preparing seeds, then germination and growth in a special greenhouse, before the plants were finally moved to Monte de Las Mesas.