VII Congress of Ornithology SPEA

The project LIFE Sustainable Laurel was present at the Seventh Congress of Ornithology carried out by SPEA which ran from 29 October to 1 November in Machico, Madeira, and for the first time the Macaronesia was the subject of attention. This event was held in simultaneous with the First Macaronesian Ornithological Journeys, allowed for the first time and discuss together the enormous value of natural resources and biodiversity linking Madeira Azores, Cape Verde and Canary Islands, highlighting the importance of conserving habitats and Laurel the sea.

This event brought together experts in Machico Portugal, Spain and Cape Verde, and other invited countries. In major highlight was the unique value of species and habitats in the region of Macaronesia, which includes Cape Verde, Canary Islands, Madeira and the Azores, which is characterized by endemic species and habitats, very threatened.

The representatives of the four areas highlighted and presented the excellent results of various projects, particularly those funded by the EU Life +, as was the case of conservation projects, Priolo and laurel (Azores), the Nun-the-monkey and Nun- the-wood (wood) and seabirds (Canary Islands and Cape Verde). The results show that it is possible to recover these species and minimize the impacts caused by invasive species, introduced predators and destruction of native habitats and the four regions can work together in the near future.

Luis Costa, Executive Director of SPEA, states that "not only the results obtained and presented at this conference are encouraging, and show that its discussion at this conference allows us to identify many common threats, which may be tackled in partnership by organizations working in each one of the regions. "

It was also shown that "these projects allow an increase of wealth in these regions, promoting the unique heritage that exists in Macaronesia and that is a sign of tourism and sustainable development of the various islands." Paulo Oliveira "congratulated the organization of this conference and emphasized the good relationship with NGOs present and hopes that this conference and workshops will further cement this relationship."

Monitoring the squares of vegetation

Since August the team of the Sustainable Laurel project goes to visit various locations in the Special Protection Area Pico da Vara / Ribeira do Guilherme: Malhada, Pico Bartolomeu, Labaçal / Pico da Vereda, Mata dos Bispos, Miradouro da Tronqueira and Trilhos Novos (Tronqueira).

These visits have no recreational purpose, on the contrary, have the intention to verify and count the existing vegetation in the monitoring squares in different locations, that show the annual evolution of the Laurel Forest.

In total about 110 squares were monitored, with positive results in terms of evolution in the Laurel Forest where actions were taken to control exotic invasive plants.

An exact and exhausting work that Alberto Borges portrayed in photographs.

Collecting Seeds...

We are at the time of the year when we collect the seeds for the plant nursery! With the invaluable help of volunteers, and with a great work of the field team, we have collected seeds of Fire Trees, Heather o Azores and common heather; these species were collected in greater quantities since they rapidly occupy the soil.

Apart from these we also collected seeds of Azorean Holly, Laurel, Buckthorn, Laurustinus, Azorean blue berrry, Azorean Plum and Picconia azorica.

After harvesting the seeds, our interns had to do some seed treatment, specifically the maceration!

Our friend Alberto Borges was in the nursery and took some pictures to trainees while they did the process of maceration. A thank you to him!

Here are some pictures!

VII Congress of Ornithology SPEA

The project LIFE Sustainable Laurel was present at the Seventh Congress of Ornithology carried out by SPEA which ran from 29 October to 1 November in Machico, Madeira, and for the first time the Macaronesia was the subject of attention. This event was held in simultaneous with the First Macaronesian Ornithological Journeys and allowed for the first time to discuss together the enormous value of natural resources and biodiversity linking Madeira, Azores, Cape Verde and Canary Islands, highlighting the importance of conserving habitats of the Laurel Forest and the sea.

This event brought together experts to Machico from Portugal, Spain and Cape Verde, as well as other invited countries. In major highlight was the unique value of species and habitats in the region of Macaronesia, which includes Cape Verde, Canary Islands, Madeira and Azores, which is characterized by endemic species and habitats that are very threatened.

The representatives of the four areas highlighted and presented the excellent results of various projects, particularly those funded by the EU Life +, as was the case of conservation projects of Priolo and Sustainable Laurel (Azores), the Fea's Petrel and the Zino's Petrel (Madeira) and the seabirds (Canary Islands and Cape Verde). The results show that it is possible to recover these species and minimize the impacts caused by invasive species, introduced predators and destruction of native habitats, as well as that the four regions can work together in the near future.


Luis Costa, Executive Director of SPEA, states that "the results obtained and presented at this conference are encouraging and show that its discussion at this conference allows us to identify many common threats, which may be tackled in partnership by organizations working in each one of the regions. "

It was also shown that "these projects allow an increase of wealth in these regions, by promoting the unique heritage that exists in Macaronesia and so promoting tourism and sustainable development of the various islands." Paulo Oliveira "congratulated the organization of this conference and emphasized the good relationship with the NGOs present and hopes that this conference and workshops will further strengthen this relationship."