Saving our trees

THE olive trees which have covered Axarquia for centuries are gradually disappearing, leading a local political group to speak out and ask authorities do something to protect them.

Following a recent report by the Axarquia Nature Studies Board, which alerted to a mango boom enticing farmers to swap crops, Velez-Malaga’s Izquierda Unida (IU) political group has decided something needs to be done.

The group, spokesman Miguel Angel Sanchez explained, has proposed that the council asks the Junta de Andalucia regional government to draw up a law similar to one in place in Valencia to stop olive trees that are hundreds of years old from being dug up or knocked down.

The Valencian Tree Heritage Law, which came into effect last year, protects olive trees more than 350 years old and allows for fines up to €500,000 for those who break it.