The Ayuntamiento de Arrecife started a programme back in August 2008 to relocate the herons (garzas) that roosted in the trees at Parque Ramírez Cerdá on the front in Arrecife. They drastically pruned the trees in the park and applied a liquid that repulsed the birds, then used birds of prey in the area to drive away the herons. In May 2009 the pruning and birds of prey were repeated and any nests found moved to a zone allocated for the birds next to the Cabildo building. In order to attract the herons this allocated area they planted similar trees and shrubs to the Parque Ramírez and added a pond.
This drastic action was received with mixed feelings as the birds have roosted here for years and during the displacement the birds caused a problem for the restaurants around the corner facing Club Nautico – large umbrellas were required to shelter customers from the droppings, when the birds took to the trees in that area.
Its good to hear that a recent survey of the new area confirmed that there are now 32 nests and a population of around 70 birds in the zone which corresponds with a significant reduction in the number of birds in the original park.
Manuela Armas said recently “Desde el Cabildo de Lanzarote y el Ayuntamiento de Arrecife se lleva mucho tiempo trabajando para solucionar este problema, cosa que no era fácil, dado que había que combinar el respeto a las aves que exige la Ley, ya que es una especie protegida, con los problemas de salud pública que originan las garzas” which translates to - the Cabildo of Lanzarote and the Ayuntamiento of Arrecife have spent a lot of time working to find a solution for this problem, it wasn’t any easy, as they had to consider both the bird which is a protected species and the public health problems caused by the herons.
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