The Formentera Office of Environment is pleased to report it has begun developing the Municipal Action Plan on Noise, the Acoustic Map and the Local Zoning Plan for Noise with the aim of preventing and controlling noise pollution on the island.

Environment chief Antonio J. Sanz insisted the plan would be “a filip for quality of life and our local environment”, not to mention put the island on the right side of European, state and regional regulations on noise pollution.

Rollout of the plan is divided into three phases: preparation of the noise map and acoustic zoning; drafting of the Municipal Acoustic Action Plan; revision of the current Municipal Noise Ordinance and designation of Special Noise Protection Zones (ZPAE). The island’s singularity means maps will be differentiated for the high and low season.

Sanz called the map “an essential tool to understand how sound and noise work on Formentera” and “key to monitoring the levels our local population is exposed to”. Sanz added that the tool should be made available to the public, and that it could “help inform decision-making in urban planning and the economy, opening the door to new environmental sustainability policies”.

Field workers began parsing the Formentera Plan for Land this July to collect and analyse data on noise caused by rubbish pickup, road and beach cleaning, public transport and vehicle traffic, which was previously unmeasured.

The Acoustic Plan and Noise Map have been contracted out to UTE Mer Formentera for €36,481.50 and are on track for completion in 16 months.

2 September 2021
Communications Office
Consell de Formentera

The Formentera Department of Environment is working to craft a pergola fitted with photovoltaic panels and five double recharge stations in the Antoni Blanc Sports Centre car park. The unique, 260-panel structure is expected to generate 134,486 kWh each year — clean energy that will either be fed back into the pergola’s five recharge points or used by the nearby fitness centre. According to data from the Consell’s energy portal, the Antoni Blanc Sports Centre uses 231,984 kWh of energy each year. Put another way, the net energy from the solar-equipped pergola will essentially cover half of the facility’s energy needs.

The project has currently secured funding to the tune of €238,000, including a recently granted €185,000 from the Balearic Department of Energy Transition. The latter was secured as part of the impost de turisme sostenible (ITS), or “sustainable tourism tax”, designed to promote sustainable tourism. The work will be put to tender in September; the pergola is expected to go up in winter and to be operational by 2022.

Environment chief Antonio J. Sanz welcomed news of the grant’s approval, insisting it was key to “creating a local source of clean energy”. “We live in an ideal place for green policies”, said Sanz, “and the Consell works hard to promote initiatives like this one”.

Councillor Sanz said a new energy portal on the Consell de Formentera website serves to “temper, readjust and reduce Formentera’s energy consumption and turn the local focus toward eco-friendly ways to produce energy”.

In 2019 island decision-makers signed the Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy — a pledge to hit EU targets for greenhouse gas emissions through energy efficiency and renewable energy sources.

20 August 2021
Communications Department
Consell de Formentera

The Formentera Department of Environment reports that this past July islanders generated nearly 8% more waste than the same month in 2019. Total collection for the period stood at 1,373 tonnes (t), compared to 1,273 t two years prior. Meanwhile, the municipal cleaning contractor logged a running count from January to July of 4,559 t compared to 4,791 t for the same period in 2020. And, focusing on July alone, crews collected a total of 1,094 t — 25.5 t more in 2021 than in 2020.

Improved day pickup and checks

Environment chief Antonio J. Sanz explained that increased output since July meant expanded pickup needs at midday, since rules require normal grey-bin rubbish to be binned between 8.00pm and 11.00pm. On 5 August alone, the reinforced midday service hauled off a total of 8,300 kg of rubbish.

The Consell asks islanders, tourists and businesses to be mindful of others and use appropriate containers when disposing of waste. Items that are not fit for bins, including MSW whose daytime disposal in bins is prohibited, can be disposed of free of charge at the island’s household waste transfer station, or Deixalleria. The Deixalleria is open Monday to Saturday, 9.00am to 1.30pm, and Monday to Friday afternoons, 3.30pm to 5.30pm. The pickup service for household appliances and furniture can be reached by dialling 900 102 656.

In 2021, Formentera unveiled an educational push called ‘For a cleaner island’, together with reinforced inspections, to encourage the correct use of bins.

Disposal times at streetside bins:
MSW and similar rubbish: 8.00pm to 11.00pm. [Dumping outside these hours is punishable by fine.]
Glass: 8.00am to 11.00pm. [Dumping outside these hours is punishable by fine.]
Paper, cardboard, packaging, clothes, etc.: any time.

Door-to-door pickup at businesses:
Summer: daily, 8.00pm to 4.00am.
Winter: Sunday to Friday, 8.00pm to 4.00am.
Es Pujols, summer (1 June to 30 September): daily, 8.00pm to 11.00pm.

10 August 2021
Communications Department
Consell de Formentera

The Consell de Formentera and Balearic Healthy Forests Service are pleased to make available to the public 200 traps to capture the pine processionary butterflies (Thaumetopoea pityocampa). Interested parties can request them at the Formentera Department of Environment at Carrer de Mallorca (15, Sant Ferran de Ses Roques) or by calling 971 32 12 10 (ext. 1).

The traps use pheromones to attract male butterflies and capture them, which in turn reduces the population of fertile males that can inseminate females. It is recommended they be installed in the first half of August, before the butterflies emerge from their chrysalises.

The insect was detected for the first time on Formentera in 2007 and was declared a plague in 2016. In recent years actions taken in an attempt to control the processionary have consisted in eliminating the bags which the caterpillars weave during the winter; capturing butterflies with traps; installing refuge boxes to encourage presence of chiroptera; aerial dustings and periodic ground treatment.

The pine processionary is a defoliating insect that feeds on the leaves of the native Balearic pine (Pinus halepensis). The insect does not itself kill the trees it defoliates, rather it leaves them more sensitive to drought or attack from scoliid insects which can eventually cause death.

Pine processionaries can also cause dermatological and allergic damage to people and animals as a result of the stinging hairs it has on the dorsal part of its abdomen. Balearic Healthy Forests Service remind the public that complete information is available on the website sanitatforestal.caib.es.

5 August 2021
Communications Department
Consell de Formentera