A group of experts from Eastern Regional University Center (CURE) and Agronomy faculty published a report on the biological and geological importance of Punta Ballenawhich is threatened by the real estate project that aims to plant an apartment tower in one of the most famous natural spaces in Uruguay.
The title of the study is “Flora & Vegetation of Punta Ballena. An invaluable natural heritage at risk of extinction” and it was created by a group of experts who studied the possible consequences that the Real estate project – which is also strongly rejected by the residents of the area – in the natural area.
“The site forms a unique coastal landscape in the country, characterized by its rocky cliff, the southern end of the Sierra Ballena Shear, which originated 530 million years ago,” highlights the study published by the specialized digital magazine, Ambienta.
On the other hand, the study adds that Punta Ballena It has a good state of conservation, a high diversity of species of terrestrial and marine flora and fauna, as well as cultural factors linked to prehistoric, historical and current uses “that society considers of vital importance.”
Irreversible changes and destruction of biodiversity
From the University Center it establishes that the effects on the landscape They will be irreversible since the attributes that define it will be modified: “its geomorphology and link with the sea, its vegetation and current public use, which make it a national and international landscape icon.”
On the other hand, they establish that the scope of evaluation by the government for possible impacts is limited only to the locality and that “the effects completely transcend that scale.”
“Punta Ballena “is part of a territory where there are historical and cultural processes linked to tourism development that are more than a hundred years old, and is currently part of one of the most visited tourist destinations in season such as Punta del Este,” the report recalls.
In that sense, it highlights that “the quality of the tourist experience of visitors will be negatively affected” and remembers that the project is highly criticized by the community.
A unique place, in danger
The report ends with Punta Ballena stands out in the Uruguay as “the only rocky cliff above the sea and represents a natural heritage given by its particular geological origin as well as its high and unique plant diversity.”
In relation to this, they pointed out that the project will cause losses in the biodiversity of that unique natural area in the country. “We warn about the loss of numerous species with well-founded conservation interest, and surely the extinction of two of them (a variety and a species) endemic to Punta Ballena“said the study.
“This urban project is unacceptable since it will cause pollution, predation and destruction of the natural environment of Punta Ballena“, stated the study and added that, according to current legislation, the resulting impacts should be considered unacceptable.
“Measures should be taken for its protection, involving the management of invasive exotic species in the area, adequate management of natural areas and raising awareness about the invaluable natural heritage of the place,” the study concludes.
A possible solution for Punta Ballena?
While the Ministry of Environment assured in mid-February that the Punta Ballena project – which aims to install housing towers for 320 apartments – is still standing and that they continue to receive proposals from neighbors, on the other hand there is a project that aims to preserve the natural area through a very successful business model in Europe.
The name of the company is Triple Impacto and it intends to buy the territory from the private sector and donate the land to the National System of Protected Areas (SNAP), As its founder informed Ámbito, Maximiliano Cañas.
“We had four meetings with the Ministry of Environment to evaluate this possibility and the undersecretary, Gerardo Amarilla, He mentioned us as the company that could buy the land. We would become a kind of tool between society and the private sector that wants to build there,” Cañas explained.
In that sense, he added that in case of obtaining the land, The conditions should be modified to be able to preserve this natural space in perpetuity because the municipality has the power to put certain lands in trust and be able to sell them in the future.
Source: Ambito
