B U I L D I N G
A N
I S L A N D
O N
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H U M A N
S C A L E
CONSERVATION
DEVELOPMENT
of landscapes, ecosystems, species and genetic variation
foster economic and human development which is socio-culturally and ecologically
BIOSPHERE RESERVE
CORE AREA BUFFER ZONE TRANSITION AREA
CANARY ISLANDS
LOGISTIC SUPPORT Support for demonstration projects, environmental education and training. International network
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El Hierro building an island on a human scale
century Man is caught between two apparently incompatible issues. On the one hand, there is his need to strike a balance and live in harmony with Nature, and, on the other, material progress, which, in the form that it has been conceived so far, has degraded our surroundings at an alarming rate. The first message that we want to transmit from our small island is that we are firmly convinced that it is possible to maintain a healthy relationship between people and Nature. The initiatives that we have implemented show this to be so and we believe that it is essential to disseminate the strategy we have used - sustainable development - and the results we have obtained. We understand sustainable development to be a kind of integral human, social and economic development that uses resources in such a way as not to compromise their availability for future generations This new concept of development makes people and their quality of life the centre and the objective of each and everyone of the projects we have undertaken, in all areas. Examples of sustainable development are harnessing run-off waters, recycling solid waste, harnessing solar and wind energy, taking care of the landscape as a source of welfare and tourist income, the production of
natural farm produce, treating and re-using water, generating creative and worthy jobs, making use of our natural wells by improving water quality and preventing salt water from infiltrating the water table, diversifying our economy, providing our senior citizens with means for participating, promoting our traditional architecture, establishing fair trading and responsible consumption, disseminating the wisdom of our traditions and customs, listening to and motivating the young, providing access to training and information, etc. ... Degrading the countryside, squandering raw materials and energy, ignoring our culture and worrying too much about almost everything we consume are not examples of sustainable development. The island of El Hierro has firmly opted for a sustainable development that can create opportunities for its inhabitants and share the wealth among the whole population. In consequence, projects that are incompatible with this idea of social cohesion have been rejected and the Island Cabildo (Government) officially adopted the Sustainable Development Programme in plenary session, in November, 1997, and it has been implementing this programme ever since. This programme includes initiatives in the fields of Architecture, Farming, the creation of Enterprises,
Heritage, Water management, production and use of Energy, Waste and Materials management and recycling, Transport, the Local Economy, Culture and Training, Fishing and Tourism. Because we believe that this double strategy of development and respect for our environment, culture and human dignity is the one that will ensure the best results for our people and other communities, we took the decision to create the El Hierro Biosphere Reserve. Today, this important declaration is a stamp of quality for all our initiatives, both present and future, and will assure us an international projection for our island and facilitate public participation within El Hierro. I would like to take this opportunity to call on the people of the island, at all levels, to contribute your ideas and to play an active role in this fascinating and creative initiative that is so full of opportunities. You are welcome to share the experience and knowhow that we have gained with other entities and communities. We believe that this is the best way to show solidarity, create synergies and build a better planet. I cannot close without first raising some questions: What is progress? Why do we want progress? Progress is finding our place in the universe. The elderly people of our island tell us that, once the basic needs of food, shelter and health are covered, the better we get on with those around us, the happier we are. Tom谩s Padr贸n President of the El Hierro Island Council
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The History of Sustainability on El Hierro How did the Biosphere Reserve come about?
n the early eighties, El Hierro decided to put its money on developing and modernising the primary sector at a time when the whole of the Canary Islands had decided that mass tourism was the only profitable option in the short term. It was decided to take a more cautious stance, thanks to which, we can now feel proud that we have not irreversibly mortgaged our land. With the passage of time, it was decided to move into the practical phase of creating a stable development model. So, for instance, trials were run in macrobiotic farming to see for ourselves if it was possible to get high yield, in both quantity and quality, without having to use synthetic pesticides and fertilisers. Seeing that the production of healthy produce was not incompatible with high yield encouraged us to go further, so we got involved in designing farms, farmhouses and even the neighbouring village. This was the approach to design systems preached by Permaculture, which acted as a
foundation for drawing up the Sustainable Development Programme that is currently being implemented. The proposals taken on board by this programme included the creation of a body responsible for evaluating and monitoring projects, disseminating results and undertaking studies. On learning first hand about the experiences of other island Biosphere Reserves like Minorca, we understood that this was the body that could cover our needs and aspirations. It was a benchmark that reinforced the function of creating channels for the general public to participate in designing their future, planning development, exchanging information and experiences in an international network and work on quality policies. For all these reasons, it was decided to carry out the actions that moved us toward getting the island declared a Biosphere Reserve, with a combined efforts from the island administration, the help provided by UNESCO itself and by the MaB Programme. At this point, having taken this important step, we faced the challenge of going deeper into public participation in designing the future that we wanted for the island. That is why the Biosphere Reserve's Sectorial Council will be an important meeting place. But, we must not forget that continuing education for the people, both in the values to be transmitted to projects and El Hierro society, and in professional knowhow, represents the axis of activity of both the present and the immediate future. There will be no real sustainability, how-
ever much investment, projects and infrastructure we create, if we do not have "sustainable people", that is, people who are in harmony with themselves, with the society they live in and with their environment. To achieve this, training is essential in the area of Personal Development. Human resources are the main asset for our island, as they are for any company. We cannot make any serious progress in sustainability without a change of mentality and a new way of seeing the problems and opportunities of our society.
The practical strategy used When we started work on designing the projects to be carried out, the first thing we did was to visit places that had already made a specific partial aspect of sustainability a reality. We visited places and organisations that had carried out projects in the fields of re-cycling, solidarity in the local economy, macrobiotic agriculture, harnessing renewable energies, etc. The next step consisted of translating those experiences to our own particular conditions and studying our traditions to merge our island roots with the new information we were acquiring. Finally we asked ourselves: if each of these partial aspects of sustainability can be turned into reality in those places, why can't we turn all of them into reality at the same time, here on our island.? And we got down to work.
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What is a Biosphere Reserve? The International Network
Biosphere Reserve is a wellconserved area with outstanding environmental assets, in which a community of people have settled and developed a form of economic and social progress that is compatible with caring for the environmental resources that sustain it. Biosphere reserves add many new elements to the traditional idea of protecting the environment and natural resources. They are also places in which programmes of sustainable development are put into practise, in accordance with the guidelines arising from the Rio Conference of 1992 and those contained in the Seville Statutes adopted by the International Network of Biosphere Reserves. Sustainable development is understood to be the chance to administer our natural and cultural resources reasonably in the present, so that we can bequeath them, enriched if possible, to future generations. Sustainability, therefore, is a commitment to the present as administrators of a heritage, and to the future, by guaranteeing the best possible legacy for our children. Biosphere reserves are proposed by governments, through national MaB Programme committees. To be declared a Biosphere Reserve, an area must meet certain criteria and comply with a minimum set of conditions. To achieve this status, an area must comply with at least three basic functions:
•Conservation function, to maintain landscapes, biodiversity, genetic variation and eco-systems, meaning that a reserve should contain a sufficiently extensive sample of a typical ecosystem of the bio-geographic region it belongs to, in accordance with criteria of diversity, natural condition and effectiveness as a conservation unit. •Development function, based on the fact that reserves should be places where to put into practise actual economic and human, socio-culturally and ecologically sustainable development programmes, and must also serve as a yardstick for similar areas. •Logistic function, aimed a providing an operational base and support for demonstration projects, research and environmental education and training, as well as contributing to the consolidation of the international network of reserves through communication, co-operation and information. In order to enhance the management and protection of natural and heritage resources
and guarantee an adequate relationship between Man and the environment, each reserve should contain three kinds of areas: •One or more strictly protected core areas, with samples of natural or minimally altered ecosystems •A buffer zone surrounding the core area in which the normal activities carried out are compatible with, or complementary to the assets sited in the protected zone. More specifically, these activities should be related to research, environmental education, traditional customs or land uses, or ecological tourism. •A transition area , which should cover the function of responsible development in the fields of agricultural, livestock and fishing activities, human settlements, tourism and other uses where the local communities, scientists, managers, non-governmental organisations, the economic sector and other interested players work together in administering the reserve within the framework of a strategy of sustainable development. The main advantages enjoyed by an area when it is declared a Biosphere Reserve are: an improvement in the quality of life for its inhabitants and for future generations; improved planning for lasting development; an improvement in economic activities as a consequence of the policies of quality implemented; the potential offered by the exchange of information, experiences and know-how with other international programmes and
reserves, as well as a greater international projection for the area in question. UNESCO (The United Nations Education, Science and Culture Organisation) is the agency that declares an area a Biosphere Reserve. At this moment in time, 391 reserves in 94 countries form an international network that encompasses an exceptional variety of environments and territories, presenting the most divers range of experiences and challenges pertaining to Man's relations with the environment, to be found anywhere on Earth. Given that El Hierro is an island, it seems logical that many of its references and partners in co-operation for the future should also be other islands. In this sense, it is worth mentioning that such emblematic territories as the Galapagos Islands, the Island of Rhum, the Virgin Islands, Minorca, Lanzarote, the Aleutian Islands, Taiaro Atoll and Yakushima all form part of this network. That is why the El Hierro sustainable development programme has paid close attention to the experiences and guidelines concerning sustainable development matters, that have been specifically generated for islands, such as the Barbados Action Plan for the Sustainable Development of Small Island States (1994), the European Island Agenda (Minorca 1997) and the World Sustainable Tourism Charter (1995) promoted by INSULA (International Scientific Council for Island Development) with the support of UNESCO. The MaB Programme (Man and the Biosphere), created by UNESCO in 1971, is an international scientific programme of research, training, dissemination and demonstration that is being implemented in over 100 countries around the world.
The Core Area includes: The Mencafete Integral Nature Reserve, which contains one of the best examples of humid juniper forests of the entire Canary Islands and one of the best examples of El Hierro laurel forest. Los Roques de Salmor Integral Nature Reserve, composed of marine rocks that are witnesses to the erosion of the shoreline, set in a coastal landscape of extraordinary value. Tibataje Special Nature Reserve, made up of a spectacular cliff area of great geomorphological and scenic value. It includes the only known site of the Giant Lizard of El Hierro (Gallotia simonyi machadoi), a true living fossil in danger of extinction. La Restinga Marine Reserve, located on the south coast of the island, close to the island's most important fishing grounds. The marine environment is known as Mar de Las Calmas (Sea of Calms), an area sheltered from the prevailing winds and currents, with steeply sloping, rugged sea bottoms and clear, warm waters. It is the richest area in commercially interesting species of fish and of vital importance as a breeding ground and nursery.
The Buffer Zone includes: Frontera Rural Park. This area combines natural areas in a good state of conservation, with areas of farmland and traditional livestock rearing, sometimes communal, as in La Dehesa (the only common system that still survives in the Canary Islands). Las Playas Natural Monument. This is a geo-morphological unit that is representative of one of the most characteristic processes of the geology of El Hierro, containing a magnificent sheer structure of great landscape and scenic interest. It also encompasses a good example of rock habitats in a good state of conservation and with a wide variety of flora. Ventejis Protected Landscape. This space combines important landscape and cultural assets. It is an harmonious rural landscape dominated by the dry stone walls that are so typical of El Hierro, with a profusion of volcanic cones as outstanding elements. Timijiraque Protected Landscape. An area that includes important up-wellings showing the geological history of the island, set in a bare landscape of deep gorges that have hardly been touched by Man. On the slopes, there are important remains of cacti that no longer survive elsewhere, and other rare plants.
The Transition Area The rest of the island. This is the area where most economic activity and practically all human settlement are concentrated. It represents the area in which to implement the sustainable development projects dealing with all sectors of island life.
Biodiversity and Heritage Conservation Integrated tourism and environmentally friendly products
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he island's network of protected areas, under the different categories of the Canary Islands Natural Spaces Act, offers a suitable framework for guaranteeing the conservation and management of the main habitats and species requiring protection. It includes the best examples of laurel forest, wax myrtletree heath habitat, juniper, spurges and the habitats of endangered species, including the famous giant lizard of El Hierro, plus the island's abundant and varied bird life. It also covers exceptional landscapes and geological monuments like enormous cliffs and chorded lava formations of great visual beauty. But, as this is an island, the local population could not ignore the sea, so the La Restinga Marine Fisheries Reserve was created at the initiative of the fishermen themselves, thus becoming a genuine model of sustainable fisheries management. Furthermore, El Hierro has a singular man-made landscape, and possibly one of the best con- served in the Canary Islands. Succes-
sive episodes of the exciting The La Restinga Marine Reisland history have scattered serve in the Mar de Las Calmas, the landscape with landtogether with the network of rumarks that, like an open ral footpaths and sporting acbook, still enable us to untivities, has become one of the derstand the complex procpillars of a tourist product that ess of how the local inhabitis sensitive and well suited to ants have adapted to this the environment. After implantland. From the caves and sheling the marine reserve, proters of the original settlers, moted by the fishermen themthe Bimbaches, with their cuselves, there has been an inrious and surprising spatial crease in the island's fishing organisation, to the conresources, as well as an infiguration of the traditional crease in the number of leisure habitat of El Hierro, we get divers who come to our waters all year round, generating increased the impression of an island incomes in the multitude of small restaurant businesses, and the full of deep suggestions. This services sector in general. is a place, for example, where The best reference for this strategy of tourist improvement is the we can still find remains of fact that every year, the island hosts the Foto-Sub Open and national the rich traditional water culture, with its rain water tanks, and international underwater photography championships. ponds, drinking troughs, "guรกrsamos" (hollows or channels cut pre-historic remains like those of El Julan. into the branches and trunks of large trees For all these reasons, it is hardly surpristo collect rain water) and "eres" (rock cavi- ing that, together with the necessary proties, also for collecting rain water), or a tection and management of these landprofusion of engravings and scapes, natural habitats and rich historic heritage, the island has opted for the idea of recognising all this as a basic asset for future de-
The Guinea Eco-museum, together with the Lizard Breeding Centre, are a fine example of how to focus a quality tourist project, where visitors go to the complex to find out how traditional local dwellings, customs and ways of life have evolved through history. Visitors can see an exhibition on the Giant Lizard of El Hierro (Lacerta simonyi machadoi), the most endangered reptile species in Europe, which is now on the road to recovery, thanks to the research and captive breeding work done here in this centre. The visit is guided by young people trained at the El Hierro Rural Tourism School-Workshop. These young people are doing their bit to improve the range of services offered by a respectful tourism that comes to the island in search of its natural environment, its singular customs and its peace and quiet.
Crafts represent a living resource to be fully developed from the base of the El Alfar Centre.
velopment. This is the context in which an innovative, quality tourist strategy is being implemented that is friendly to the resources it is based on. Compared with other conventional, impersonal and rigid products of sun, sea and sand, El Hierro offers a low density product based on the skilful management of its resources, giving priority to local control of the tourist industry. This is a policy that is Living traditions are the expression of the people's respect for the intense history of their island.
Restoring traditional houses for rural tourism that generates positive effects on the environment, the island's heritage and the income of the local population, has an excellent example to follow in the Guinea hamlet.
producing excellent results and excellent examples of the tourist industry co-operating in favour of sustainable development and conservation. This idea of a harmonious co-existence can be seen in initiatives like recovering deteriorated rural housing to use as tourist accommodation, or creating visitors' centres like the Lizard Breeding Centre or the Guinea Village, where tourism is a complementary factor to the safe guarding of species and the recovery of the historic heritage. New ideas and projects are following this promising line of merging, a stamp that can be seen on initiatives like the "Casa del Aguardiente" (Spirit Museum), in Frontera, aimed at recovering the wine culture, the creation of an interpretation centre in the Orchilla Lighthouse, the historic meridian "0", the window on the sea in La Restinga, the Garoe Water Theme Park or the El Julan visitors' centre. All these actions are governed by the idea of quality, respect and integration as the creative hand of Cesar Manrique expressed it so well in the La Pe単a look-out.
as quality control of the waters in El Golfo, assessing the re-charging of aquifers, simulating and modelling flows and enhancing hydro-meteorological knowledge. But, at the same time as the information on water resources has increased, steps have been UR BA N SU taken to advance real PP L programmes aimed at Desalinating plants: achieving WATER-ENERGY sustainable Pumping-distribution Water ring water management. The main initiatives focus on: •Maximising the volume of treated waste waters •Increasing the use of treated waters in farming, thus closing the cycle. •Improving the island distribution net-
WATER COLLECTING Horizontal rainfall Traditional systems New technologies Increase of forested areas
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PU RIF ICA TIO N
he history of El Hierro has been determined by water and a fear of water shortage. The geological characteristics of the island are a serious constraint on the island's ability to harness water, forcing the inhabitants to develop a rich and complex water culture. Water has always been collected in a thousand different ways on the island, and this is reflected by the fact that Garoe or Holy Tree, which used capture abundant water by distilling the Trade Wind mists, is still a local emblem. Based on this long experience, the Hydrological Plan becomes a cornerstone of the strategy of sustainable development. This is a dynamic plan that maintains and recovers efficient traditional systems, while at the same time incorporating modern technologies and infrastructure that have been adapted to the fragile island environment. The actions in the plan include aspects aimed at studying water resources, for the purpose of sensible decision making, such
IRR IGA TIO N
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Respecting the water cycle
•Saving and efficiency •Dripping irrigation •Best practices in urban consumption
WELLS-GALLERIES Collecting subterranean waters Island ring STO CK BR EED ING
Individual exploitations Cisterns + Collecting rainwater from roads and other exposed areas
Disseminating the water culture is an essential aspect of guaranteeing a future and respect for water resources. The promotion of the Garoe Theme Park, and opening the island's main water gallery to the public, give visitors the chance to see just how much effort it takes to obtain water on El Hierro.
A bio-system for re-cycling water, nutrients and energy has been built and is currently operating as a prototype for many potential solutions to be used all over the island. The prototype consists of a small farm with 30 pigs, built in a style that is very similar to the traditional island architecture, a methane digester, a gravel bed for producing Reverse osmosis desalinating plant
forage plants, a pond of water plants and a methane gas driven electric generator.
work, thus reducing losses to a minimum and allowing a more balanced use of water. •Completing the reservoir plan •Increasing forest mass as a natural catchment system, especially on the Nisdafe plateau. •Recovering, reinforcing and improving traditional stand-alone catchment systems. •Introducing innovative water-saving systems for irrigation, domestic water use and services.
The system will have a pool for rearing fish (tilapias) and beds for growing algae.
Water lentil and Azolla
This way, the problem of pig slurries is turned into a solution: methane gas is produced to be used as fuel for the electric generator and the liquid effluent is treated in the volcanic gravel beds, producing forage biomass (Phragmites sp.). It
Digestor, Water Plant Pond and Tilapia Pool.
then passes through the pond of water plants, in which water lentils (Lemna sp.), Azolla and other water plants are grown, coming out as treated water suitable for irrigation. Pond of Water Plants
• Experimenting with artificial cloud condensing systems. • Recovering run-off waters from roads and large areas. Apart from all these measures, the authorities have opted firmly for new technologies that recover waste waters, providing fertilisers and producing energy in the form of bio-gas, and for renewable energy sources like the Trade Winds, an ally for desalinating sea water and slaking the island's thirst and avoiding the destruction of its aquifers.
The recovery of traditional water tanks has been a constant trend in recent years.
Sun, wind and water, our new allies 100% of energy supplied from renewable energy sources Source
The system also includes a sea-water desalation plant. Once the reservoirs are full, the desalation plant can cover losses from the system from evaporation and supply irrigation water for the island's foothills farms, thus guaranteeing fruit and vegetable crops, both for domestic consumption and export from the island, and providing foSource rage for BIOMASS the island livestock. AS BIOG The 100% renewable energy strategy also addresses the fields of harnessing solar-thermal energy and photovoltaic energy applications. But, furthermore, it
IC AT IM CL BIO
Demand-side management
DESALINATION
ACS-cooling Warm air
Water production
SOLAR
SOLAR THERMAL
Rational use of energy
Source
n the next few years, El Hierro will become one of the first islands in the world to guarantee its energy supply needs from renewable energy sources. The projects proposed for the island have already become an international benchmark for other islands in the world. In fact, this is one of the most emblematic actions of the ambitious strategy laid out in the European Commission's White Paper on Renewable Energies, which establishes the election of 100 100% renewable energy communities to form part of a demonstration project to set an example as part of the Island 2010 initiative promoted by the Altener Programme. El Hierro is making this qualitative leap and meeting this technological challenge on the basis of simplicity and the experiences of Samso, in Denmark, Aran, in Ireland and La Madeleine, in France. 100% RES electricity supply is guaranteed with a mixed system comprised of a 10 Mw wind farm that harnesses the free, but variable energy of the wind to pump water to a reservoir 600 m above sea level. This water, and its potential energy, runs downhill through a pipeline to sea level, where it drives a turbine that produces electricity in accordance with the demands of the moment, thus guaranteeing a quality electricity supply. There is another reservoir next to the turbine, with the same capacity as the other one (250,000 m3 ) that collects the fresh water for pumping back up to the top reservoir, thus completing the cycle.
WIND
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also covers sectors like transport, promoting the use of electric transport (zero emissions) and the general implementation of producing water by desalinating sea water. The two systems are also excellent storage systems for the surplus provided by the variable forces of the sun and wind.
The relationship water-energy is an essential aspect of the sustainable development strategy laid down in El Hierro. Desalinating sea water with renewable energy is also an excellent system for storing surplus energy gener-
100% RES WIND POWERED HYDRAULIC SYSTEM
ated basically by the wind.
Accumulation system. Storage of wind energy in
Particular attention has been paid to eliminating the impact on the landscape of power and
hydraulic turbines.
telephone lines. In recent years, work has started on the ambitious project of running cables underground in the most sensitive areas. This is the first step towards the complete elimi-
a dam for its posterior transformation through
Pumping station Hydraulic power station Desalinating plants
nation of visual contamination.
Wind Farm
Integral projects like water treatment (anaerobic) that produce bio-gas
The 100% renewables strategy not only concerns electricity production. At the
and clean water, in parallel with a wind-driven desalation plant, are autonomous examples of
same time, El Hierro has started to develop an ambitious programme to harness
having opted for sustainable development.
solar-thermal energy for producing hot water, and, in the near future, for cooling, and for implementing stand-alone photovoltaic systems in isolated ones and others that are connected to the grid. Solar heating panels used in the greenhouses at El Golfo.
As the ideal technology for the non-polluting electric transport of the future, fuel cells, can not yet be implemented at a reasonable price, steps have been taken to use hybrid transport systems (electric - conventional) and pure electric systems (batteries), as steps along the path towards zero emissions.
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he management of solid waste, or solid resources, as we prefer to call them, is done on the island by applying a strategy of selective collection, with the sorting carried out in households and companies. We have decided to invest in training for our people, instead of resorting to the formula of buying costly sorting equipment. To achieve this, we have carried out a large number of awareness and education campaigns in schools, high schools, student residences, senior citizens' associations, housewives
Waste or useable materials? Zero Waste Strategy associations and businesses all over the island. In every village and hamlet of the island, there are containers for sorting glass, plastic and metal packaging, paper and cardboard. Most shops have IMPORTS Minimising packing and unnecessary products
Agricultural and stockbreeding WASTE
Minimum waste to a controlled dump
RECYCLING MINIMISATION RE-USE
boxes for re-cycling used batteries and chemists even collect used medicines or medicines that are past their sell-by date. Garages and workshops have a re-cycling service available for engine oil. The fact that we now consider what is generally known as rubbish, as a set of materials that can be re-used, and therefore, acquire new value, has been our inspiration for developing an integral policy for treating them. This takes on special importance in the light of the fact that waste management on islands is one of the most serious problems that influences their future. Therefore, the initiatives that have been implemented, and those to be implemented, do not just tackle sorting at
Sending oils, batteries and toxic wastes for their overseas treatment
Sending surplus glass, plastic, paper and scrap iron.
source and recovery of the useful fractions of solid urban waste, they also address all the waste that is generated by all activities. Some examples will illustrate the strategy of zero waste: • recovery of materials generated from clearing the undergrowth, to shred for compost. • In the livestock sector, not only manure and slurries are recovered, initiatives have been started in re-using serum. • An Island Office for Aggregate and Rubble has been created, which includes the restoration of quarries, but the necessary steps have also been taken to incorporate appropriate technology for recovering rubble for reuse in building.
The "Puntos Limpios" (Clean Spots) in San Andres and Frontera have become the support infrastructure for completing these processes, as they house the plant for composting, scrap metal recovery and centres for collecting recyclable materials and shipping them off the island; like plastic, glass, cardboard or metal. But a coherent integral recycling policy would not be complete if it did not take into account such important aspects as waste prevention or minimisation, or training and active participation of the general public. An example of this is the programme to always use returnable packages for local products: bottles of wine, yoghurt cartons, honey cartons, sacks for hay, etc. This idea has become general practise among consumers too, and their have been successful campaigns for using returnable shopping bags (made of cloth) and food wrappings made of corn polymer (recyclable) that are a perfect substitute for plastic bags.
We are currently recycling 17.4 kg of glass per inhabitant per year; 10.1 kg of paper and cardboard per inhabitant per year and 0.9 kg of packaging per inhabitant and year. These figures have grown each year since we started the programme 4 years ago. San Andres Clean Spot, a complex for treating and recycling waste.
On the island as a whole, the idea is to create "industrial ecosystems" in line with the United Nations' ZERI strategy (zero emission research initiative), in order to make the waste from one industry the raw material of another, something that is already being applied to the agriculture-waterlivestock cycle. There has also been a successful experiment in producing earth worms to transform organic domestic waste from sorting, into humus for our farms. The earth worms themselves are excellent food for birds and fish.
In over 1500 households of the island, they have waste bins divided into four compartments to facilitate sorting resources and recycling them. These bins were subsidised by the Leader-II programme.
Pasteurised milk dispenser in island sales points. This is an example of how to eliminate unnecessary packages and incorporate a new way of marketing a local product.
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he starting point for maintaining and even revaluing the agricultural and livestock sector has been a single, clear and simple idea: we can raise the quality of our produce healthily, by applying the criteria of biological farming and livestock breeding and, at the same time, make it more profitable. The farmers of El Hierro have opted for quality, instead of quantity, for variety and diversification instead of homogeneity, and for respect for the landscape and rural heritage instead of their destruction. In short, they have made good the words of Shumaker when he stated that “small is beautiful and viable”. This change of attitude is the result of a period of hard work, in
Biological Farming Young Farmers which many actions have been taken to change most of the island’s production, from conventional to ecological methods of production. Evidence of this effort is the fact that large areas of apple, fig, plum and apricot orchards, grazing land and livestock holdings have been registered with the Ecological Agriculture Regulatory Council. After the first few years of experience, we can now say that it is possible to obtain biological products with high yields, intense flavours and good conservation properties, and respect consumer health, by improving creativity in the work of the farmer, as well as his job security conditions and protecting his income. This work would
not be viable however, without the essential complementary support of training for young farmers, to allow the younger generations to start taking over, and without pilot, or demonstration farms, where new techniques and procedures can be tested with qualified technical and scientific assistance, maintaining the rich genetic heritage of the island, such as in the case of grape vine and potato varieties. To guarantee these requisites, the Young Farmers Farm and the “Los Palmeros” Farm have been created. These two complementary projects enable young farmers to receive training, as well as being a test bed for adapting new ecological techniques and even intro-
For two years, ecological fruit and vegetables have been mar-
ducing new activities like aquaculture, and act as a trampoline into the world of agriculture. Young farmers are given a plot of land, and whatever it yields, until they reach professional maturity. This cycle will be closed with the new School of Ecological Agriculture.
keted that are grown on a series of farms given over to a group of young farmers in order to make the necessary generational change over easier. The system of ecological production does not cause any major technical problems, yields are high and the prices obtained at market are satisfactory and guaranteed by the corresponding commercial agreements.
One permanent concern is to maintain traditional, cultural rural landscapes of great value, and their most typical elements: drinking troughs, enclosures and dry stone
Distributor of fresh meat from ecologically reared livestock.
walls.
Experiments have been done into the production of intense crops, like bananas, with ecological techniques, and the results have been excellent. After five years, we are getting a yield of 38 kg per plant and a market price that is 40% above the price of conventional fruit, thanks the marketing done by the Co-operatives and by Mercahierro. In the area of growing biological bananas, our island has increased production from 40 tons/year to 330 tons/year and the yield per plot are the highest in the area. Experiments are now being done on growing ecological pineapples, the other intensive crop on the island.
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he productive structure of many subsectors of production on the island is organised around Co-operatives, as in the case of transport, rural tourism and the primary sector. The different co-operatives work together to create systems of mutual support to defend and market local products. This is the case of the Frontera Countryside Co-operative, the El Hierro Livestock Breeders Co-operative and the Pescarestinga Co-operative of the Sea that, together with the Cabildo (Island Government), form the Mercahierro distribution company for marketing island products. Each partner has a 25% representation on the board of directors. Mercahierro provides an important service in distributing fruit from the foot hills, macrobiotic produce, rabbit, goat and lamb's meat, promoting agro-food products, producing local feed and by providing commercial support for the production of cheese, pineapples and wine. Growers get the best prices through this
The processed food sector, aimed at quality products, is one of the most solid pillars of the new strategy of sustainable development.
Social participation Instruments of cohesion system by regulating production (mainly of cheese and pineapples), thus allowing production to adapt to market conditions. Regulating supply also involves actions aimed at improving presentation and generating new processed products with greater value added, which is the case, for example, of the new initiatives to can quality tuna. This will provide an outlet for surpluses and improve the financial yield from the sales of fresh produce that have been recorded in recent years. This increase and distribution of income generates opportunities and economic stability for a large sector of the island population. The island economy continue along the path to diversification it started out on years ago, working towards an economy that combines primary sector production with a food industry to process this produce and generate employment. At the same time, the creation of a tourist industry aimed at rural tourism and tourism specialising in activities like diving, horse riding, or trekking, the creation of industries derived from waste, or the development of new advanced services will allow us to step into the new millennium with confidence. That is why the Island Employment Plan has taken on board novel proposals, mainly concerning training for the local people, financing entrepreneurs and promoting ini-
tiatives that will enable the island to become a fully integrated member of the Information Society.
The Cheese Centre was the pioneer in processing dairy products and improving the sector's income.
Successful projects have been carried out in creating businesses by providing access to credits through the Leader II programme. Three Internet access centres have been made available to the population, and one video-conference centre, to facilitate access to information, and a branch of the Open University has been created on the island to facilitate training. All of this is aimed at guaranteeing equal opportunities. The Sectorial Council of the Biosphere Reserve is an important forum for local society to take part in defining the future we want for the island, having already organised intersectorial workshops on social participation, in order to identify preferences. The next step to take in the immediate future is to define a new set of Projects as part of a new Sustainable Development Programme or Agenda 21, designed, right from the very foundations, by the inhabitants of the island as a whole.
WASTE 1 Compost (SDW, agricultural, livestock, forestry) 2 Clean Spots. Accumulation of: (organic waste, glass, paper, plastic, metal) 3 Bio-treatment plants and fertiliser 4 Waste recovery, fish processing 5 Biogas Pilot Project 6 Storage Point 7 Recycling Technical School 8 Reuse of rubble 9 Scrap metal 10 Serum recycling farm 11 Rejects, Landfill 12 Rubble (disposed in abandoned quarries) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
WATER Treatment Plant Desalination plant Desalination plant Desalination plant Well of Los Padrones Catchment system Reforestation at Nisdafe Catchment of water from roads
1 2 3 4 5
ENERGY Wind Farm Wind Hydro System Hybrid Bus Pilot Project Electric Transport Project Stand-alone rural electrification
Ongoing Projects and Initiatives
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
HERITAGE AND NETWORK OF CENTRES Pozo de la Salud Meridian Zero Museum El Julan Visitors’ Centre Window on the Sea Nature School La Albarrada Hamlet Garoé Park Alfar Pottery Centre Ethnography Museum Pozo de las Calcosas La Peña Look-out Water Museum (Well of Los Padrones) Guinea Village, Lizard Breeding Centre Los Palmeros Farm Spirit Museum
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
AGRICULTURE Cereals Nisdafe Soil Laboratory Compost Plant Modernising the Wine Centre Maintaining Fig growing, El Pinar New areas under irrigation, Hoya de los Roques New areas under irrigation, Los Llanillos New areas under irrigation, La Tabla Agro-tourism model farm Los Palmeros Farm, Seed bank Young Farmers’ Farm Biological Agriculture School Processing dried fruits
LIVESTOCK Pilot project, Aquaculture in ponds Pilot initiative, Ecological livestock Cereals Nisdafe, Common machinery Stables, Cabildo (Island Government) Warehouse of produce from the foothills (cold cuts) Modernising the Cheese centre Improving the slaughterhouse Feed factory Island Bee laboratory. Laboratories monitoring sheep and goat’s milk 10 Honey Museum 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
FISHERIES Small boat yard Carpentry Tuna freezing tunnel Fish processing, tuna canning factory 5 Tourism, traditional fishing 1 2 3 4
LANDSCAPE 1 Elimination of overhead cables 2 Conservation of farming and livestock walls
EL HIERRO ISLAND COUNCIL
Edited by: Cipriano Marin - Javier Morales
www.el-hierro.org cabildohierro@cistia.es