Tabarca (Alicante) residents express their reservations about the proposed Biosphere Reserve

A TABARCA residents’ association complained they were still in the dark regarding plans to declare the island a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.

Isaura Navarro, who heads the regional government’s Environment department, visited Tabarca on November 14 to discuss the project but failed to meet members of the principal residents’ group, the Isla Plana association.

A subsequent Generalitat press release showed Navarro with a group of islanders, Isla Plana said, maintaining that this “was not representative” of a meeting held to analyse the island’s problems.

A spokesperson explained to the local Spanish media that when they heard “informally” of plans to make Tabarca a Biosphere Reserve, they had asked for official information regarding the consequences for residents.

The association explained that members could not attend the meeting with Navarro because they were advised only four days earlier.  “The committee explained that they had prior commitments and asked for a postponement,” the association said.

This was not granted and Navarro’s visit went ahead without them.

A far-reaching project like a Biosphere Reserve, which reconciles biodiversity with sustainable use, needed consensus from all involved, Isla Plana insisted.

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