I Forum for the European Charter for Sustainable Tourism in the Lands of Priolo

Yesterday it was held the first Forum for the European Charter for Sustainable Tourism in the 'Lands of Priolo' in the Auditorium of Povoação. The Forum was attended by about 50 participants from various public and private entities, and several companies not only from the two municipalities involved (Nordeste e Povoação), but also by other places of the island of Sao Miguel.

In this Forum was presented the first phase of the process of the European Charter for Sustainable Tourism: the Diagnosis about the Tourism in this area prepared. In the afternoon were created several working groups that identified Problems and Potential and Proposals for the area.

Thank you to all who participated and all who have contributed to this process. For those who want to know more about the European Charter for Sustainable Tourism in the Lands of Priolo can go here http://cetsmarcapriolo.blogspot.com/

Our thanks to the Professional School of Povoação for all the help and support in this Forum.

Executive Meeting presents the work done with the exotic and invasive plant species

On 11st May, we held the 10th Meeting of Executive Board of the Project LIFE Sustainable Laurel, at the headquarters of Miramar building in the municipality of Povoação.

On the agenda of the meeting was the presentation of the progress on the Planalto dos Graminhais as well as the Greenhouse and Plant Nursery of the project.

One of the topics of this meeting was the presentation of the work with the control of invasive and exotic plants in the areas of natural forest, where they were addressed in the work zone of Malhada and Labaçal.

The day culminated with a visit to the area of Labaçal, where members of the Executive Board were able to observe firsthand the work done on site. In this area, we already completed the control of Yellow ginger lilly, and we are now trying to control the Australian Cheesewood and the subsequent action is to plant endemics in the open spaces.
This work will take place in the last quarter of 2011.

It was possible to verify the natural recovery of some sites after the removal of the exotic plants.
Small heather will naturally occupy some of the spaces now free, and the larger plants now have room to grow. Good signs of recovery in an area that was once close to disappearing between the Yellow ginger lilly and the Australian cheesewood.

Dikes in Planalto dos Graminhais

The Project LIFE Sustainable Laurel has undertaken various actions with the aim of the recovery of the Peats of the Planalto dos Graminhais. One of the most relevant is the blockage of drainage ditches, open when in the past these areas were used for agriculture.

Over the past few months we have been studying and testing models of dikes. An early attempt was to use existing materials on site, (Cryptomeria trunks and soil) where the surface was covered with vegetation to minimize erosion. Such dikes were positive but their construction requires a lot of work and have some negative impact on the surrounding area.

A new model that uses plastic PVC is being tested and is already used in restoration of peatlands
in the UK and in other places of the world; this model was recommended by Normand Russell of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. This test consisted of installing a dike with 3.5 m wide and 80 cm deep. Its construction was easy and quick (about 1 hour) and shown to have a low impact on the surrounding area, with visible results within a few days.

The construction of these dikes will serve to retain water, so that it accumulates, allowing a more
favorable growth of the plants that live in these conditions, as is the case of Sphagnum sp.

News about the Project Lines and Birds of Azores

The Project Power Lines and Birds of the Azores now has a cemetery of birds in a space donated by LIFE Laurel, located in the area of the Project LIFE Sustainable Laurel.

The space donated by the LIFE Project will allow the burying of several birds in order to accelerate the decomposition process, so that we can then proceed to cook the bones and all the preparation necessary to ensure that they incorporate a Reference Collection of Bones; which can be used for educational purposes, scientific and research institutions.

11 holes were made to bury 11 different species. Each specimen was placed in a rectangle of wire mesh, with geotextile on the bottom and land on top. This will make it easier to recover all the bones of the skeleton. The animals were also identified and are delimited on the ground.

The Collection includes: 1 Long eared owl, 1 Moorhen, 1 Blackbird, 1 Woodcock, 1 Common Snipe, 1 American nightjar, 2 common teals, 1 Common quail, 1 Dwarf bittern, and a Jack snipe.

Now we must wait until we can collect the bones clean.

Finally, the team of Power Lines wants to thank all the help provided by the team of the Project LIFE Sustainable Laurel !

-

Fragments of history...

A few decades ago, the place where the plant nursery of native plants of the Azores is installed, was an important farm where they are produced vegetables for consumption in the village of Povoação. Vegetables, oranges, and grapes, were some of the vegetables produced here. You can still see some fragments of this time; there is a vineyard found between weeds, growing near an ancient wall. It was maintained and secured and this year is properly ready to occupy part of the area that was once yours... Let's see if it presents us with some grapes this summer!

News about the Weekend...

This weekend, 30th April and 1st of May, under the Project LIFE Sustainable Laurel, the Environmental Centre of Priolo held a Formation for Tourist Guides in the Special Protection Area Pico da Vara / Ribeira do Guilherme.

The course was attended by 11 people linked to Biology and Nature Tourism, with interest and enthusiasm in furthering knowledge about the SPA Pico da Vara / Ribeira do Guilherme. This initiative aimed to raise awareness of the importance of conserving this area.

The topics covered in this Formation focused on the endangered Laurel Forest, natural vegetation of the Azores, on the various species of avifauna of the region, on the existing Conservation projects, and also on the main threats to this prioritary habitat, essential to the survival of the rare Azores Bullfinch, endemic species to the eastern island of San Miguel.

The themes were presented in the Environmental Center of Priolo, and was complemented with visits to some Conservation areas of the Project LIFE Sustainable Laurel, for example, the area of the Miradouro da Tronqueira, of the Piquinho de Vereda/ Labaçal and the unique Planalto dos Graminhais. Along the way, the participants observed the natural environment, putting into practice the knowledge obtained in identifying birds and plants of the SPA and did not fail to see the fascinating Priolo.

-

International Day of Monuments and Sites

The Environmental Centre of Priolo collaborated with the City Council of Nordeste in the commemoration of the International Day of Monuments and Sites.

Saturday, April 16th, a pedestrian trail was held in the unique and fascinating Planalto dos Graminhais. The participants got to know the important role of the peats of Graminhais in retaining and filtering water and the action taken to recover this rich and unique habitat in the Azores. The peats of Graminhais are composed by Sphagnum, locally known as Musgão, a bryophyte capable of holding 7 times its weight in water and filtering it of impurities, resulting in water supplies of high quality, in addition to protecting the soil from heavy rainfall.

8 people attended this celebration, among whom were a group of Scouts of Nordeste . Despite the unstable weather that has hit, without hesitation the scouts took the trail of the Planalto dos Graminhais towards Pico da Vara, an emblematic place of the region.

In the afternoon, the celebration of the International Day of Monuments and Sites have been accompanied by a lecture on the importance of peatlands, in the Centro Cultural Padre Manuel Raposo, municipality of Sto. Antonio Nordestinho. Here at the Cultural Center is also a Photo Exhibition of the Planalto dos Graminhais and Pico da Vara, from Pedro Monteiro, which you can visit from monday to thursday until April 29th, from 9am to 16 pm.

We thank all participants for your presence in the hope of having spent a great Day of Monuments and Sites.

Monitoring the Peats

One of the actions of the Project Life Sustainable Laurel is the recovery of the Peats of Sphagnum sp. (better known locally by Musgão) in the Planalto dos Graminhais, located partly in the SPA Pico da Vara / Ribeira do Guilherme since 2008 and fully protected by the Natural Park of the Island of Sao Miguel. Since 2009 work is being conducted by SPEA towards a better understanding of the peats.

(Peats of Planalto dos Graminhais)

One of the best indicators for evaluating the quality of the peats is its ability to retain water. So in 2010 the first 19 perforated pipes were placed in order to monitor the water level in the turfs, installed in 24 hectares that are under the management of the Forestry Service. The initial aim was to determine the variations between the rainy season (February) and the driest period (July) of the year; it was found that the only areas where water was maintained throughout the whole year were the areas dominated by Sphagnum unlike other areas dominated by herbaceous and shrubs or even by other bryophytes.

(Installing the monitoring pipes)

With the help of technicians, SPEA has improved this monitoring system with the installation of 39 more perforated pipes in January of this year, that now covers the entire area interventioned by the project. With a view to monitoring more directly, in the month of March, we have identified 10 locations where we settled 30 perforated tubes that, in addition to monitor the water in the turfs, will monitor the water retained in the mineral topsoil. The tubes will be monitored every two months.

(Installing the monitoring pipes)

Working conditions in the peats of Graminhais are demanding, since it is located over 900 m above sea level, presents a very unstable climate which affects the work and where not even in the best of days the site is easy to exploit.

We take now to thank the SPEA team and the one external to the SPEA, responsible for all this work in the conservation of the Peats of Planalto dos Graminhais!

SPEA was present in the Conservation Journeys of Aldeia

In the past weekend, 2nd and 3rd April, the Association Aldeia organized its V Journeys of Conservation Biology, this year dedicated to forests.

In Anadia, dozens of participants attended the lectures given by researchers and technicians, who addressed various topics within the conservation of forest resources. Control of exotic species, forest management and certification, land use and fires, were among the topics presented and discussed by a very interested audience.

The Project Sustainable Laurel was present with a presentation about some of the actions and achievements of the projects that have been developed in recent years in San Miguel for the recovery of the Laurel Forest, which besides being the natural forest of the Azores, is also essential habitat for Priolo, an endemic bird of this island.

Our congratulations and thanks to the organization of the Aldeia and wishes for success in their future activities.

-

The Project has a new Area of Germination!

During the year 2010 many seeds were collected for which there was no room, once they reached the stage of germination. Thus, we proceeded to build a new experimental area of germination of endemic plants in the area of Pico de Vereda - Labaçal.

32 plant beds were built mostly for Heather and Azorean holly, seeds that were in stock. We surrounded the area of germination with a safety net, meant to keep rabbits out, and in addition was created a drainage ditch for the possible excess of water. The area was thus enriched with the establishement of the new area of plant germination, it serves to improve the planting area and also increase the production of plants.

The whole area can be visited and is useful in environmental education for schools and the general public. Visite us! contacte the Environmental Center of Priolo through centropriolo@spea.pt

-