Thursday, 18 November 2021 11:42

Let's Make Gran Canaria Green Again

You can come on holiday to Gran Canaria on holiday guilt-free by offsetting your carbon production, and contribute to making Gran Canaria green again. Here's our detailed guide to all the things Gran Canaria is already doing to reduce the environmental impact of tourism.

And here is the way to offset your carbon consumption in a way that makes Gran Canaria a greener and better place for everyone...

Foresta: The Gran Canaria reforestation charity

The Foresta Foundation plans to replant all of Gran Canaria's primeval forests in a sustainable and fire-safe way. In the 1980s there were only 6000 hectares (one hectare is just larger than a football field) of forest in the whole island. This has now risen to 20,000 hectares. However, the island originally has 154,000 hectares of forest stretching from palm forests by the sea up to mountain pine forests. So, there is plenty of room for more trees: Here's a detailed guide to Gran Canaria's forests.

Foresta plants mixed forests of native species making sure that the right trees go in the right places. This means the forests grow faster and also makes them more resistant to forest fires and droughts. 

Alex Says: To offset the carbon footprint of your flight to and from Gran Canaria you can sponsor a tree via Foresta.

Foresta plants one native tree sapling per donation in an appropriate location and cares for it (rabbit-proof fencing, watering, etc) until  it gets established. A mature tree can absorb enough carbon dioxide during its lifetime to offset the carbon generated by one person on a flight to Gran Canaria. Three trees would offset all the carbon generated by return flights and all the activities yoiu do during a holiday in Gran Canaria. 

Published in Alternative Tourism

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Tip of the day

  • The Parafarmacia In Gran Canaria Is Not A Chemist!
    The Parafarmacia In Gran Canaria Is Not A Chemist!

    If there is one thing we hate it is visitors being tricked in Gran Canaria. In the past we've warned about overcharging at Gran Canaria chemists, and rip off electronics shops in resorts. 

    In this Tip Of The Day we return to the island's chemists or rather, to the island's fake chemists.

    A chemist in Gran Canaria is called a Farmacia and always has a green cross sign. Farmacias are the only place tobuy medicine in Spain, even basics like paracetamol.

    However, there is another kind of shop in Gran Canaria that looks and sounds like a chemist but doesn't sell medicine. This is the Parafarmacia and it also uses a green cross sign.

    A parafarmacia is a herbal medicine shop that is not allowed to sell any normal medicine such as paracetamol, ibuprofen or antibiotics. 

    Instead, parafarmacias sell herbal alternatives to medicine but don't have to prove that they work and they can charge whatever they want.

    We recently heard from a visitor to Gran Canaria who went into a parafarmacia and was charged 40 euros for a herbal alternative to Ibuprofen. It was only when they read the label that they realised what had happened. 

    To locate a genuine farmacia, see this website and search within your municipio (Puerto Rico is in Mogán, Playa del Inglés is in San Bartolomé de Tirajana). At weekends and on fiesta days many farmacias close but there is always one open, known as the farmacia de guardia, in each municipio.

    Search for the nearest one to you with this tool

    Lex Says: To keep costs down, see this article for the way to ask for generic medicine rather than expensive branded alternatives. 

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