Backing for Brian: This picture shows an ancient sabina tree and a reckless tourist on El Hierro which angered Queen guitarist Brian May so much before Christmas (Photo from www.brianmay.com)

It was posted to his website by a Canary Island resident who told him about an increasingly worrying trend across Spain where visitors help themselves to nature souvenirs.

As you can see, the sabina tree on El Hierro is not immune. Did this tourist realise what he was doing ie. causing yet more harm to a tree which has become such a symbol of the island? Probably not but because the picture is so vivid and quite shocking to those who love nature, it does make you think twice about your own behaviour towards our environment and it’s absolutely certain that each and everyone of us can play a part.

The Spanish man who wrote to Brian May, an ardent astronomer and firm supporter of nature, said the sabina was being threatened, not by a disease but by  tourists.  This man chose to stand on the knotted trunk and have his picture taken. Others apparently try to carve their names in the wood or even take away signs.

The authorities are understandably very concerned. People who climb on the trees, they say, are causing untold damage by ripping the bark and opening up avenues for disease, as well as stopping the flow of its natural juices. Even hugging the trees or standing too near them can have an impact as the ground around it is compounded, again affecting the natural processes of nature. Fifteen people standing near one tree equates to the weight of one heavy cow, say the experts. Multiple this by the thousands and you can see the scale of the problem.

Despite their concern, the authorities are perplexed as to what they can do. It would be impossible to put fences up around every sabina on the island or restrict access to every tree.

One official said: “Everything is a problem of public awareness, we cannot put a guard 24 hours a day.”  Another added: “It’s a problem of lack of respect.” 

Readers may wonder where Brian May comes in to all of this but if you look at his personal website of www.brianmay.com you will see that he has passionate views on many subjects, including the latest controversial issue of badger culls. His interest in the sabina of El Hierro does, however, go one step further.

Brian has long been a fan of the Canary Islands and visits Tenerife regularly, the last occasion being for the Starmus Festival as he is an astronomer inspired by Mount Teide. The sabina is also very special to him as he went to El Hierro to see it when searching for an image for his solo album Another World.

“The first moment I set eyes on the sabina was electrifying. In real life it looked even more like I had imagined - an elegant and tragically long-suffering lady, with her head thrown back, her hair and clothes raked by the wind, in an act of submission to the elements,” he recalls.

Whilst taking a picture of the tree, he remembers feeling profound respect for it and he never touched a twig but he did worry about possibly putting it into the spotlight, making it more vulnerable to mistreatment.

Having been sent the photo of the man clambering on its branches, he said he felt great sadness and pledged to get in touch with the authorities to see what could be done. He was appalled by people’s ignorance and carelessness and also offered an apology if he had in any way inadvertently made life worse for the sabina by making it into a celebrity.

You can understand this element of his concern but cultural and heritage tourism damage is, sadly, a phenomenon the world over. In citadels, visitors have been known to carve their names into the stone walls. On Easter Island, every tourist was asked to fill in special cards detailing their every movement because the famous giant statues were being damaged. One man from Finland was even fined for hacking off a stone earlobe as a keepsake. The very presence of tourists and their breath meant historic caves in Spain had to be closed to the public. Even Venice was considering limiting the number of people visiting the historic city.

Here on Tenerife, wanton environmental damage does not appear to be a huge problem (or at least not publicized) and the island is working hard to encourage eco-tourism and nature holidays. But we should all remember that a great part of the Canary Islands is protected land and many places are either World Heritage sites or officially listed.

Damage does not have to be as high profile as the tourist clambering over the sabina tree. Even dropping the smallest amount of litter on to the ground or in the sea can have serious repercussions. Taking bark from trees, hacking at stones, walking off the footpaths, picking plants or flowers which may be endangered species, damaging stone walls... anything like this is total sacrilege.

 

Brian May hasn’t damaged the future of the sabina. What he has done is to thrust a problem into the spotlight and reminded us all that we have a huge responsibility towards nature and must always think of our behaviour. Should you see anyone else not doing so, perhaps you should speak out too.