Análisis del estudio de impacto ambiental del proyecto del puerto de Fonsalía, SO Tenerife

Resumo

The project of constructing a new harbour at Fonsalía (Council of Guía de lsora, SW Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain) is located in an area surrounded by the Special Area of Conservation (SAC) ES7020017 Marine Strip Teno-Rasca, and 2.8 km North of the SAC ES7020117 Marine Cave of San Juan. The Environmental Impact Assessmcnt (EIA) of the project describes that the proposed harbour would contain five berthing lines for large vessels (cruises, ferries) and 467 berths for small and medium-sized boats, plus an area for fishing boats and 200 berths of dry dock. This means increasing the capacity ofthe harbours at the SW coast of Tenerife in the perimeter ofthe SAC Tena Rasca. The increase is 250% for large ships and sorne 50% for smaller boats in pontoons. This would be expected to increase marine traffic proportionally, and thus the probability of ship-strikes of cetaceans and sea turtles and chemical, light and acoustic pollution in the ZEC.The construction of the harbour would require dumping into the ocean nearly four million m3 of filling material, including > 1 miIlion m3 of quarry material. The harbour would affect three marine/coastal habitats protected by the European Habitats Directive (92/43/CEE): submerged shallow sandbanks ( code 1110), reefs ( code 1170) and submerged and semi submerged caves (8330). The SACs Tena-Rasca and Marine Cave of San Juan host at Ieast 74 protected species, including green and loggerhead turtles (Chelonia mydas and Caretta caretta) classified as priority at European leve and endangered and vulnerable by IUCN, respectively The area hosts 26 species of cetaceans included in Annex IV of the Habitats Directive, including resident populations of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncates, also in Annex II) and short-finned pilot whales (Globicephala macrorhynchus). Other manne protected species include nesting seabirds such as Pandion haliaetus, Calonectris borealis. Puffinus baroli, Sterna hirundo; invertebrates such as Neophrissospongia nohtangere; seaweeds and seagrasses such as Gelidium canariensis and Cymodocea nodosa. Also, protected species of terrestrial flora and fauna would be affected by constructions planned at the coast in the vicinity ofvthe projected harbour. We conclude that the EIA is inadequate, because it does not evaluate or underestimate several environmental impacts that together would render asevere impact not compatible with the objectives of conservation of SAC Teno Rasca and potentially affect SAC Cueva San Juan also. This is consistent with a 2018 negative report by the Spanish Ministry of Ecological Transition (MlTECO, General Direction of Coasts) about the adscription of the maritime-coastal territory required for the constructton of the harbour, due to its environmental impacts. Thus, the construction of the harbour of Fonsalía would contravene the Habitats Directive because: i) it would affect negatively European priority species, and ii) it is not justified that the project is classified as "of general interest" because there are viable alternatives with lower economic and environmental costs by reorganizing the marine and terrestrial traffic of the neighbouring harbour of Los Cristianos.