The two left-wing parties that aspire to fight and maintain the Government of the Valencia City Council -PSPV and Compromís- announced yesterday some of their proposals in terms of environmental protection. In full controversy over the situation of Doñana -with the intervention even of the EU and the Government of Spain- and with an eye on the European green capital that Valencia will house in 2024, the two applicants, Joan Ribó and Sandra Gómez, showed their I'm trying to win over that eco-conscious green voter moving through the progressive space.
In an extensive colloquium, highly electoral, organized by the Nueva Economía Fórum, Ribó -which was presented by the UPV professor, an expert in environment and sustainability, María José Viñals- launched a proposal to buy land and renaturalize crop fields. The objective? Protect L'Albufera and increase the reserve areas for birds and other species.
For her part, the socialist mayor, Sandra Gómez, proposed the creation of a coastal green corridor to connect the neighborhoods of the Marítimo with the Delta del Grao, the Jardín del Turia and the Parque de Desembocadura through a large green axis. An ambitious performance that would cover the current Paseo Marítimo, the Marina, J.J. Domine and Engineer Manuel Soto.
The Compromís proposal, which the mayor emphasized to contrast it with the plans of the Junta de Andalucía on Doñana or the situation of the Mar Menor in Murcia, involves seeking agreements with agricultural owners, so that they can have "preserved areas of a very clear way" in this environment and for its flora and fauna. The first mayor did not hesitate to describe the wetland as the jewel in the crown and opted for its protection and empowerment. "While others dry out wetlands," he pointed out, Valencia is committed to their conservation: "Even the flamingos are migrating from Doñana to the Albufera."
Speaking to La Vanguardia, the Councilor for Urban Ecology, Sergi Campillo, explained that currently, of the 21,000 hectares of the natural park, 70% are rice fields. "When the fields are flooded during cultivation, the proliferation of species is very abundant, but when they dry out there are barely three flooded tancats (green filters) and the Racó de l'Olla reserve where fauna can be."
Thus, Campillo reported that this winter, thanks to the contribution of water that has been agreed with the Júcar Hydrographic Confederation and that has been set for the first time in history in the basin plan, the perellonà or winter flood of the tancats has been very extensive in area and duration, which has led to a record for birds spending the winter in Valencia.
The idea, added the councilor, is to increase these reserve areas for birds and other species.
Also yesterday the PSPV presented one of its star projects. “We are going to connect the old course of the Turia river from the Metropolitan Forest that President Ximo Puig announced the other day to the new Desembocadura park, connecting it through a green axis with the entire coastal strip of the city of Valencia”, explained Sandra Gómez .
The socialist candidate argued that the proposal will provide coherence to all the renaturation projects and execution of green areas that are planned in the Maritime, from Natzaret to Malvarrosa, with a continuous space of 8.5 kilometers in length in which the vegetation , trees and nature-based solutions are protagonists.
"The socialist proposal is compatible with the development of the different activities that are currently carried out, both in the Marina, where work and training spaces are located, as well as in the recreational and tertiary spaces and the restaurants of the Paseo Marítimo", stressed the current deputy mayor.
