Calp City Council will soon put out to tender the drafting of the renaturalization project for the urban section of the Quisi and Pou Roig ravines. This marks the first steps in a project highly desired by the current government team. It will involve the elimination of invasive species and replacing them with native vegetation, thus increasing the biodiversity of the surrounding area and improving and ensuring the safety of the ravine.
The drafting of the technical project has a base budget of €30.000 and is expected to be completed within nine to 11 months. The project will include the removal of Arundo Donax reed, an invasive species that thrives in the ravine bed, to prevent potential obstructions that could lead to the river overflowing in the event of major floods. Local Police Officer Juan Manuel Policarpo Moll lost his life on duty in September 2022 during an incident of this nature.
To eradicate this invasive species, the solarization technique is planned – using black tarps that reach a high temperature that kills the plant's roots – and then planting species
indigenous.
The project now out to tender covers only the urban section of the Quisi and Pou Roig ravines, which is the responsibility of Calp City Council. However, the Calp council's objective is for these projects to be carried out along the entire route of the Quisi ravine, a large part of which runs through the municipality of Benissa. For this reason, Calp City Council, together with Benissa City Council, have formed a group to request aid in the latest call for proposals from the Biodiversity Foundation of the Ministry of Ecological Transition, co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). They have agreed to work together to obtain authorization from the CHJ (City of Juridical and Cultural Heritage), which has jurisdiction over the non-urban section.
urban ravine and thus make this project a reality.
This first project, which will soon be put out to tender, will also include the renaturalization of La Saleta Park, a municipal park located next to the Quisi River, which has also been invaded by a large number of Arundo Donax reed beds, with the aim of converting it into a riparian forest.
Once the project is drafted, Calp City Council will carry out the planned work, for which it will have a budget of €170.000. "We estimate that by the end of the term we will begin to see the results of a much-needed project in Calp, which will improve the health of our environment and improve safety in the event of torrential rains, which are becoming more frequent due to climate change and which can cause ravines to overflow," said the Councilor for the Environment, Pere Moll.
