Axarquia in danger becoming a desert

THE Axarquia area is in danger of desertification according to Partido Andalucista councillor in Velez-Malaga, Jose Luis Gamez. The party has warned that the natural characteristics of the area and action of human beings puts the area in danger and says it is essential that measures be taken locally to delay the process, such as reforestation.

Gamez has been an active figure for environmental matters for the past decades, and says that the Provincial Government’s Sustainability Observatory has noted that this possible desertification could be a serious problem for the area.

During a press conference, the councillor pointed out that every year, 150 tonnes of fertile soil per hectare are lost in the area, which amounts to a centimeter of soil per hectare per year.

This, he said, was due to the lack of forests, the climate, and to the slopes and short, irregular rivers in the Axarquia, which displace materials, but also to the mass-building on the coast, plowing of land and uncontrolled movement of earth for construction. Gamez complained that “a lot is being done to cause desertification and very little to prevent it”.

By Jennifer Leighfield