Cabildo de Fuertevenura announced that only in the last four months, more than 4,500 kilograms of sand, stones, shells and rhodoliths have been confiscated at the airport.
The Cabildo de Fuerteventura, through the Ministry of Environmental Sustainability, reminds the population and visitors of the importance of avoiding practices such as removing natural materials from beaches such as shells, rhodoliths, stones, or sand.
Every year, the authorities return thousands of kilos of this type of material back to its original place, after it is recovered at Fuerteventura Airport from people's luggage. This is material that is confiscated by the Civil Guard and after the material has been collected, the dedicated staff from Medio Ambiente has to classify each type of material by categories into rhodoliths, stones, sand, shells, etc.
Data such as collection date, place of origin and type of materials are taken to assess the impact generated by this activity. Once registered, they are returned to the natural environment from where they had been taken.
In the last four months, 4,533 kilograms of material have been collected, including rhodoliths, sand, pebbles, stones and fossils. This makes an average of between 600 and 800 kilograms per month.
The most seized material is sand, both white and black. Due to the type of materials, in four months 640 kilograms of white sand, 309 kilograms of black sand, 452 kilograms of rhodoliths and 240 kilograms of fossils have been collected at the airport.
The Ministry of Environmental Sustainability recalls that it is prohibited to remove these types of materials from beaches and nature, as this is classed as an infraction and carries sanctions, according to Law 42/2007, of December 13, in regards to Natural Heritage and Biodiversity.