Xàbia's Natural Plant Heritage
September 17th 2011
Although no one can overlook the scenic beauty of Javea, sometimes we not really aware of our natural heritage. The Cirne Foundation has endeavored to promote the value of the municipality's incredible richness of flora through an exhibition and a book of previously unpublished photos and information on endemic species in danger of extinction.
Enric Martinez, the President of Cirne, recalled that the foundation does not only focus on the renovation and preservation of cultural and historical heritage but also that of plant life. So the exhibition, which opens Friday 16th September at 20:30 h, and the book from which the pictures and information is drawn, "Xabia's plant heritage" have a distinctly informative nature.
Students from schools in Javea are invited to come to the exhibition which is also open to the public at the Foundation Cirne (Avenida de Alicante, next to the Red Cross). As for the book, Toni Espinosa, Cirne vice president is the editor. He explained that this is a compendium of plant species needing the greatest degree of protection, either because they are endemic or are relicts with few individuals (species that have been isolated and may in future give rise to a new species), with forty descriptions which include colour photographs of each plant and a section on the different habitats in Javea, such as Montgó, cliffs, Montñar, the Saladar, Portitxol, Tossal Gros and Valls. The book has Castilian and English translations.
Javea has two endemic species
La Marina Alta, and more specifically Xàbia, "is one of the most important places of the Mediterranean", noted James X. Soler, author, with Lluís Serra, of "Xabia's plant heritage" and that between 1,000 and 1,100 different species have been recorded in the municipality. To give you an idea, countries like Belgium and Denmark have around 1,200.
There is also a high number of endemic species in this region, 59 . Of these, 40 appear in the Dianic zone, and 2 in Jávea. In comparison, there are many entire countries that have less than a dozen. Germany has only 6 species unique to its region, Belgium 1, Sweden 1.
The Sierra Nevada is the only region of Spain with more biodiversity than Xàbia
Xàbia houses 17% of the protected plants of the Valencian Community, and their biological wealth is exceeded only in Spain, (the EU country with the greatest biodiversity), by the Sierra Nevada and is comparable to the Andalusian mountains of Cazorla and Segura.
The intention of the exhibition and the book is to educate citizens about the importance of caring for and preserving this natural wealth which adds value to nature tourism, taking into account their protection in planning. Another interesting and important observation that Soler stressed is that the Marina Alta region of Spain could lead the recovery of arboreal Spain.
The Foundation is preparing a catalogue of monumental trees in Xàbia, which include exceptional examples of Pi Ver, like the somewhat battered specimen, in the urbanization of the same name , and the olive trees of the Jesus Pobre Camí Vell, that having more than eleven decades of history is one of the oldest in Valencia.
The exhibition can be visited until October 28. It is open from 18h to 21h, Monday to Saturday.
From XAD: La fundacion Cirne.....
