The Governing Board of the Penyal d’Ifach natural reserve has gathered again after not meeting for more than a year. The meeting was used as an initial contact for the members of the Board, presided by Guillermo Sendra, and constituted by representatives of the Generalitat Valenciana, with director of Natural Environment Antoni Marzo in charge, by members of the Town Council such as Ana Perles, Santos pastor and Jan Van Parijs, and local experts as well as representatives of the University of Alicante, of nature conservation associations, of the Federation of Mountain Sports and Climbing and of the Spanish Association of Ornithology.
The agenda included the management report of 2014 and 2015, which established the number of visitors to be 122,264 in 2014 and 115,417 in 2015. In addition, the report shows that the north side of the Penyal d’Ifach is now the home of a new peregrine falcon couple, for there was no record of this species in the Penyal. European shag specimens are also nesting again in the reserve.
The General Director of Natural Environment, Antoni Marzo, indicated that the repair works in the access path towards the top of the Penyal have started, having a completion period of three months and a cost of about 60,000 euros. These works begin by bringing up the materials, signposting the area and installing structures that will allow work to be safe.
In the meeting, additional topics were brought up, such as creating a tourist office inside the reserve, asking the Town Council to adapt the parking area by the reserve and including MARQ (the Archaeological Museum of Alicante) to the Governing Board. It was also mentioned that the reserve still has no director-keeper, and the position was declared void.
