The recognition of the Elche Reservoir and its surroundings as a protected natural area has been a long-standing demand for decades. Seven years ago, Elche City Council itself drafted a justifying report for its declaration as a municipal natural park, a figure similar to that of Clot de Galvany. Even in 2022, the previous executive of PSOE and Compromís announced a public consultation to strengthen the protection of the Reservoir and the northern mountains of the municipality.
However, the process remains completely blocked. For this reason, the environmental group Amigos de los Humedales del Sur de Alicante (AHSA) has decided to pressure the PP and Vox bipartisan government. They have registered a letter with the City Council demanding the immediate drafting of the mandatory urban planning reports to formalize the declaration request before the Ministry of Environment.
AHSA points out that the justifying report, which exhaustively compiled the great diversity of the coastal mountains of Elche, was completed in 2019. However, according to the collective, the document did not include the mandatory geographical location or the cadastral plan with parcel references, information that must be prepared by the municipal Urban Planning department. This lack of reports has kept the process blocked, preventing the request from reaching the Ministry of Environment.
“"It seems that the City Council itself is boycotting this initiative of great environmental importance, which is regrettable."
Environmentalists emphasize that the coastal mountains of Elche preserve large areas of habitats protected by European legislation, with high faunal and botanical diversity, undeniable landscape value, and an important ecological connector. They consider the declaration as a natural park essential to initiate dissemination tasks and prevent environmental degradation from projects such as photovoltaic plants, which have been presented within the scope of the cartography included in the draft justifying report.
Finally, AHSA also warns about the impact of a project to transform more than 80 hectares of forest land on the southern slope of Serra Llarga into irrigated land, an enclave included in the future municipal natural park. Therefore, they consider it fundamental to provide these areas with a protection status as soon as possible to avoid activities and infrastructures incompatible with the conservation of their environmental values.
