On the occasion of World Wetlands Day, held this February 2, the Mayor of Lugo, Lara Méndez, presented the initiative for the conservation and care of the As Gándaras wetland, one of the great natural heritage of Lugo, which aspires to be qualified as ENIL (Natural Area of ​​Local Interest) by the Xunta de Galicia. To obtain the declaration, the Lugo Council has just presented a plan to preserve this space, endowed with € 70,000 that will be invested in the next ten years. In the words of the Mayor: “We will take this important proposal for the protection of this space to the next plenary session for the Xunta to evaluate it.”. In addition, she has defended that “from the municipal executive we have been working for a long time to obtain the ENIL declaration for this unique natural space.”.

In the presentation of this plan, which has been developed jointly with the USC, the Mayor recalled that “from the City Council of Lugo we are working on the design of the green cities of the future, uniting sustainability and progress as two of the pillars on which our government action is based, which is placing us at the forefront of sustainable urban development and the fight against climate change at national and international level. In this sense, we promote the recovery of the As Gándaras wetland, as a natural area of high ecological value that is located in the urban area of ​​the City Council, between two industrial estates that give the space its name”. The conditioning of this 5-hectare wetland has involved preserve its rich diversity so that it can be a recreational space for residents and visitors, but it will also have informative purposes, since it hosts species of flora and fauna of community interest.

The wetland is also part of the so-called green belt that surrounds the entire city, from west to northwest, following the fluvial courses of the rivers Miño, Rato and Fervedoira, and is also located within the transition area of ​​the Terras do Miño Biosphere Reserve, the largest in Galicia. The FEMP (Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces) awarded the recovery of the wetland for its impact and for being an example for other cities. This project obtained the second prize in the Water Medium category in the second edition of the Awards for Good Local Practices for Biodiversity, held last year and awarded by the Network of Local Governments + Biodiversity, of the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces.