El Hierro, the eco-friendly island

Posted Monday, January 22, 2007, 4:29 PM by Lonely Planet

Sarah Andrews is in the Canary Islands, researching the guidebook and learning to live sustainably...

I thought we were heading into the greenhouse to check out the banana plants inside. So when dozens of white chickens suddenly crowd around me and start pecking at my tennis shoes, I'm rather taken aback. Luckily Pedro Cabrera, who's showing me around his organic farm, knows what to do. He scatters the hens with one strong kick in their direction, and we continue on the tour of his land, where chickens (not pesticides) keep pests away from banana plants, sheep (not herbicides) keep fields weed-free, and crops are rotated every season.


Pedro is one of just 57 organic farmers here on El Hierro, a tiny island in the Canary Island archipelago boasting peaceful pine forests, cliff-lined coastlines and striking volcanic badlands. A rural island where tourism has yet to descend, El Hierro is, as Pedro says, "one of the few places you'll find that hasn't been too destroyed by development." The island's government hopes to keep it that way with an ambitious plan to make the entire island eco-friendly and energetically self-sufficient. Already declared a Unesco Bio-Reserve, nearly 70 percent of the island is protected land. But a multi-pronged plan launched in 1997, and now beginning to show results, takes preservation a step further. Organic agriculture is just the tip of the compost pile. Keeping marine reserves pristine, recycling, conserving water, offering electrically powered public transportation, promoting eco-friendly tourism, and taking advantage of clean, sustainable energy options all form part of the plan too, easily making El Hierro the most eco-friendly place in Spain.

Though there's a long way to go to meet the island's ultimate goal of becoming energetically self-sufficient, El Hierro's efforts have been widely praised. Still, not everyone is happy. In the Bar El Parlamento, a locals' retreat, none of the five older men drinking this afternoon has anything positive to say about the island's conservation efforts. All the new rules take away their freedom, they complain. It's not possible to build a house wherever you like or to conduct business however you want to. It's a big step backward and it makes life more expensive.

Pedro is philosophical about the resistance. "When people grow up seeing things done a certain way, it can be awfully hard to change," he recognizes.

We say thumbs up to those who are willing to give change a chance.

Labels: Europe, Sustainable and responsible tourism

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