Cartagena inaugura el primer tramo de la senda de Bosque Romano y otorga la fase de Finca Medina

Cartagena already has the first section executed of the Roman Forest, the green corridor that will connect San Jos� Obrero and Canteras through the recovery of degraded spaces, archaeological sites, and native plantations. The mayor, Noelia Arroyo, who has visited this Monday, March 31, the new 700-meter pedestrian path built between Vi�a del Mar and Avenida del Descubrimiento, also announced the award of the phase that will take place in Finca Medina.

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In addition to the infrastructure, the project includes the removal of invasive plant species, the planting of Mediterranean species, environmental awareness programs, and training workshops, many of which are already underway. «This project comes to continue the work that the residents themselves were already doing in the area, especially in La Vaguada and Avenida del Descubrimiento, where reforestation efforts began years ago,» Arroyo recalled.

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The Roman Forest is a project funded by the Biodiversity Foundation, under the Ministry for Ecological Transition, through the Recovery, Transformation, and Resilience Plan (PRTR) with European funds from NextGenerationEU. It is promoted by the City Council of Cartagena in collaboration with ANSE, ARBA, and CETENMA, which coordinate environmental activities and community participation.

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This first action surrounds the neighborhood of La Vaguada and marks the physical start of the large ecological corridor that will unfold towards Las Lomas de Canteras, transforming 30 hectares of land through environmental and archaeological actions.

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«The path is accessible, signposted and designed for all residents, with gentle slopes, guides for visually impaired people, and rest areas,» the mayor pointed out.

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During the visit, the mayor, accompanied by the councilor delegate of the European Projects Area, Cristina Mora, presidents of the Neighborhood Boards of the west area, and representatives of different neighborhood associations, confirmed that the next phase of the project has been awarded to the company JUMABEDA, for an amount of 830,464 euros (1,004,862 with VAT). This intervention will take place in Finca Medina, a plot of over 120,000 square meters where remains of Roman quarries are preserved. The project foresees its landscape recovery, the opening of new accessible paths, resting areas, and reforestation with native vegetation.

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In this sense, the president of ANSE, Pedro Garc�a, has stated that «this is the largest urban land reclassification action that has taken place in a long time in the Region,» affecting the almost fourteen hectares of the Finca Medina project.

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On the other hand, he also highlighted the wealth of flora distributed throughout this natural corridor, «which exceeds 30,000 specimens of fifty native species ranging from the famous Cartagena cypress, through the holm oak or the strawberry tree, to shrubby plants such as lavender, rosemary, or esparto, so important in Roman times.»

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The residents, on their part, have expressed their gratitude and desire for the ongoing activities to be maintained, «this project is great for the area and must be one of the lungs of the city, so we hope there is always an extension of the project,» stated F�lix Izquierdo, president of the La Vaguada Neighborhood Association, during the visit in which the vice president of the Los Popos Neighborhood Association, Andr�s Bernab�, also participated.

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The project has a dual environmental and archaeological focus. On the one hand, it aims to mitigate the effects of climate change in the western area of Cartagena through ecological restoration and will create a green corridor that will serve as a refuge for local biodiversity. On the other hand, the Roman Forest will protect the existing archaeological heritage, particularly the remains of Roman quarries found in the Canteras area. The intervention will transform these old abandoned lands —even used as a dump— into a recovered natural space, integrating historical remains into a visitable and educational environment, and among the planned actions is also the installation of sustainable irrigation systems, with solar energy and rainwater collection, which will allow the trees to be maintained without the need for connection to the electrical grid.

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