Oeiras is a very dynamic city that has a lot of environmental campaigns. “Ecos da Natureza” is now one of the pillars of sustainability in the city. The mission is to change the peoples mentality through social actions and volunteering in order to protect the environment.
Biodiversity is one of the key elements of a healthy environment. It is important to protect the variety of the living animal, plant and microorganism species and the ecosystems they form.
The project “Ecos da Natureza” aims to protect the biodiversity in the region. They take steps towards this goal through voluntary activities such as planting initiatives, trash collection, removal of invasive species and storage of seeds for propagation among others. For biodiversity it is very important to fight against the foreign invasive (alien) species. Therefore one of the project’s goals is to remove the invasive species of the narrow-leaf balloon cotton-bush (Gomphocarpus fruticosus) (1) and bring back the non-invasive species of it. This plant is important, because only the non-invasive could host pollinators such as in-the-region-extinct “melitta aetheria” butterflies. This butterfly could still be found in southern parts of Portugal, but in this region it was last seen in the 1980s.
As a part of the project team, biologists and young students who volunteer, put their efforts into removing the invasive species of the plant in order to foster the development and rehabilitation of the native species of the plant, so that they could bring the region-extinct butterfly back as an important pollinator.
To become a volunteer, a person needs to have a currently enrolled in or a completed higher education program in Biology, Geology, Environmental Studies, or a related field and be at the age between 21 and 30 years old.
Along with such activities the team also monitors the population of all sorts of pollinator species in the region, which includes butterflies, bees, wasps, birds and others.
Some people do not understand the importance of such activities. They think that the activities are not effective enough or that nature doesn’t need our help. With such thinking they might not allow the educated volunteers to interfere with the nature on their property. This way the owners usually worsen the conditions or disable the volunteers to do their actions successfully. Such people might want to help the environment but because of the lack of their knowledge, they sometimes cause the opposite and even speed up the imbalance in biodiversity which causes impact in the whole area and in the community.
However the eco-system of Serra de Carnaxide is self sustainable as the intensive rain in winter provides drinking water for all the animal species and it waters the plants as well. The bees are also really important as pollinators, as well as bumblebees, which is similar to many eco-systems.
In conclusion, “Ecos da Natureza” is a project focused on helping the environment in Oeiras. It aims to protect biodiversity and improve local ecosystems. With the help of volunteers, it shows how local actions can support nature and make a difference over time.
