Who will imagine how the springs that, drop by drop, are transformed into rivers, determine the settlement of villages, towns and cities? And how to discover them? How to keep them?
This was the discovery that the “Rio Arade: Percurso das Fontes Boião-Azilheira” project, with the collaboration of the Parish Council of São Marcos da Serra, provided a group of 40 young girls who are part of the III Regional Camp of the Region of Faro from Associação de Guias de Portugal (AGP), camped in São Marcos da Serra these days.
Opening in August, the environmental and community service volunteer action aimed to make young people aware of the people, the territory, making them aware of the importance of the mountain range and its vegetation cover in maintaining the quality and supply of fresh water that supplies the region.
Patrícia de Jesus Palma, project coordinator, explained that "the action consisted of reproducing, as the local population taught, the summer ritual of depletion and consequent renewal of water from the fountains, cleaning of cobblestones and tanks, whitewashing and cleaning the surroundings" .
“Taking the path along paths and dirt roads that the population used to do once a day, with animals and pitchers, until finding, embedded in the damp slopes of the valley, the springs, was part of this experience,” he added.
“Discovering that rural springs do not have taps and, in surprise, seeing water flow from the earth, will certainly have been one of the most memorable memories of the day,” he concluded.
The project Rio Arade: Percurso das Fontes Boião-Azilheira is an initiative of the QRER – Cooperative for Development of Low Density Territories, co-financed by On Planet B - AMI, European Union and Instituto Camões and has the support of the Parish Council of São Marcos da Serra and the Municipality of Silves.
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