UAlg and the Municipality of Vila do Bispo organize the Marine Forests Festival

According to UAlg, combining science, conservation and education to publicize the importance of the biodiversity of marine forests, this festival aims to involve the region’s community and students more, making them aware of the marine diversity of Sagres, namely algae and the region’s corals, and reinforce the importance of these living beings in marine systems and their conservation.

For the Mayor of Vila do Bispo, Rute Silva, “the Municipality is now fully aware of the importance of its Natural and Cultural Heritage”. Over the last decade, he explains, “the Municipality has been promoting several projects to identify, inventory, evaluate, investigate, conserve, manage and enhance its heritage resources, particularly in areas such as Geology, Paleontology, Archeology , Underwater Archaeology, History, Ethnology and Biodiversity, terrestrial and marine”.

In addition to their heritage value, for the Mayor, “Marine Forests have inestimable economic value, as life support for many of the species of fish, molluscs and marine crustaceans whose capture supports many of the families in Vila do Bispo, especially from Sagres, Salema and Burgau”. In her opinion, “the involvement of the fishing community in the event is particularly relevant in the discussion and promotion of sustainable practices in fishing and seafood activities, with a view to protecting marine forests and the biodiversity they harbor”. Therefore, he summarizes, “by bringing the general public and the local community closer to the scientific knowledge produced about the reality of marine forests, awareness is raised about the pressing need to conserve and recover these vital ecosystems for the sustainability of the seas of Sagres” .

For Alexandra Teodósio, vice-rector of UAlg for internationalization and sustainable development and researcher, “participation in this citizen science festival is an opportunity for UAlg students, guided by researchers and teachers from UAlg and CCMAR, to literally immerse themselves in the forests seascapes, a unique ecosystem in the coastal area of ​​Sagres”. For the researcher, the festival will also be a way of coming into contact with teaching based on the ‘problem based learning’ methodology, applied to marine sciences, in a real context, and in-depth learning provided by the knowledge of the region’s communities”.

“Submerged forests are not very accessible and are often unknown to citizens, but as we only love and protect what we know, these activities to discover the different components of the marine environment actively contribute to the sustainability of conservation actions in these areas by society”, concludes Alexandra Teodósio.

This event, part of the PRR impulses Jovem e Adulto FOSTEAM@SOUTH program, also has the support of the Sagres Parish Council, Docapesca and Finisterra.