Saturday, February 11, 2006
Canary Island Palms Under Threat
Canary Island Date Palm in El Palmar
Something particularly worrying to the valley of El Palmar, where many of the last few remaining, native, Canary Island Date Palms (Phoenix Canariensis) exist in the Canary Islands, would be any potential threat to their health.
Yet it has been reported that on January 27, a ship, which originated from Valencia, unloaded ten containers in the port of Santa Cruz, loaded with palm trees. Two days later, as a precaution, the government prohibited the importation of palms into the insular community, as a result of a plague of red palm weevil (Rhynchophorus ferrugineus) that was detected.
Port authorities wanted to return the ship to it's port of origin, however the ministry responsible for agriculture estimated that "no impediment exists" to the entry of the plants.
La palmera canaria, gravemente amenazada
Un escarabajo colorado y mortal
