Birds, insects and bats have new shelters in Loulé, as a result of two projects by the Municipality in urban spaces that are already starting to bear fruit: “Local Accommodation for Birds” and “Hotels for Insects”.
In 2020, the Municipality started the project “Alojamento Local para Aves”, in partnership with Associação Vita Nativa – a Portuguese non-profit organization for the conservation of the environment.
According to the municipality, "this project aims to encourage the settlement of birds in urban and peri-urban areas, contributing not only to the promotion of biodiversity in rural areas, but also to a greater awareness of society for the ecological importance of these species in our daily lives, namely in the role they play in the control of biological pests».
At the moment, there are already 62 nest boxes installed in the municipality (Loulé, Quarteira and, soon, in Almancil), within the scope of the project, as well as 2 years of existence of scientific monitoring data, such as the geographical location of the boxes, the number of visits to the place, the occupation, the species and if there are signs of reproduction.
On the other hand, through the Environmental Center's education and awareness-raising activities, the project “Guardiões do Jardim das Comunidades” emerged, in which five 5th grade classes from Escola Básica 2,3 Dr. António de Sousa Agostinho, in 12 sessions alluding to the themes Water, Flora, Fauna and Content Creation, to support the signage to be implemented in the Jardim nas Comunidades, in Almancil.
The Fauna theme was worked on in partnership with Associação Vita Nativa, with the construction of 20 hotels for insects which, in turn, were installed in Jardim das Comunidades and in some school grounds of the group.
At the moment, eight hotels for insects are installed on the school grounds of Escola EB 2,3 Dr. António de Sousa Agostinho, six hotels in Jardim das Comunidades in Almancil and the last six were placed in 1st cycle schools in the same cluster.
«Insect hotels contribute to conserving local biodiversity, offering shelter to different species of insects, which are at the base of the food chain for many animals, being fundamental in the reproduction/production of various plants/food for human benefit, through pollination» , says the municipality, which believes that the initiative is «an excellent way to raise awareness of the importance of conservation of these small animals, as well as the adoption of good environmental practices».
The Municipality was also involved, in 2020, in the “Cadoiço Vive” Project, led by Almargem – Association for the Defense of the Cultural and Environmental Heritage of the Algarve, one of the main objectives being to reinforce the wild fauna along the Cadoiço stream. In this context, 30 nest boxes for birds, 13 shelters for bats and 4 hotels for insects were placed.
"There is no time to lose! It is fundamental to change behavior on the part of society, and it is urgent to transmit and disseminate information, knowledge and concepts that allow creating a critical awareness and alert and sensitize the greatest possible number of citizens, not only to the aforementioned environmental issues and problems, but above all for its possible prevention and mitigation», highlight the municipal officials.
Comments