Press Release
Javea Town Hall to catalogue distinctive heritage trees to defend the local specimens
The project is co-sponsored by the Cirne Cultural Foundation
Javea. Wednesday 25th January 2012.
Javea Town Hall, in collaboration with the Cirne Foundation, is to embark on a cataloguing campaign of all the ancient and unique heritage trees in the municipality. The goal is to catalogue the collection of local tree specimens, not only to protect them, but also to educate about this important part of the local heritage. One of the objectives of the project is to publish a comprehensive catalogue of the local tree specimens and prepare an educational exhibition specifically aimed at schoolchildren so that they may learn to appreciate and respect the local plant heritage. A special route or tour of this network of special trees may arise in the future and be offered to interested residents and tourists on specific dates, subject to agreements with the owners.
The project calls for the cooperation from residents, since many of the specimens are within private property and may be difficult to locate if the land-owners do not report them. In this regard, all those who believe to own one of these specimens, either due to the size or historical or cultural characteristics, are asked to report them. The Town Hall wishes to assure these landowners that owning a distinctive and unique tree would not necessarily create problems other than the prohibition of uprooting it. To the contrary, it would in fact create several advantages, including the possibility for council staff to assist with pruning, maintenance and pest control.
The inventory phase will last until after the summer and will be coordinated by both the Town Hall's Department of Environment and Agriculture at 2 Avenida Amanecer, and the Cirne Foundation whose headquarters are located at 18 Avenida de Alicante.
After this phase, a group of experts will analyse the data to select the trees that will be included in a municipal register. Although the requirements for heritage trees are regulated by regional law (they must be at least 350 years old and a minimum of 30 metres in height, with a minimum trunk diameter of six metres), the requirements for unique trees are more local in nature and may derive from considerations such as traditional uses or cultural preservation.
Councillor Juan Luis Cardona explained that the idea of preparing a register of Javea's tree specimens was proposed at a recent meeting of the Agricultural Council. Shortly afterwards it was discovered that the Cirne Foundation had already started to work on the same objective. Therefore they contacted the president of the foundation, Enric Martinez, to work out the details of pursing a joint action. This week saw the first meeting between all the departments involved - Agriculture, Environment and Tourism - along with representatives from Cirne foundation and biologist Tere Bou, who already have some working files.
