This field trip was organised by Alexandra Abreu Lima, João Pinto (Ancão Forest Management Plan team) and Almancil EB School Teachers. During this coastal area field trip, a 3rd grade students’ group from this school, explored the region and learned about the local flora and fauna.

For many students, this was the first time they had seen male and female plants of the white crowberry plant - Corema album (L.) D. Don., an endemic plant of Iberian Peninsula, whose female plants bear white crowberries which are peculiar edible small white fruits – the unknown "botanical white pearls".

Credits: Supplied Image;

This was an initiative based on a connection to nature that creates in students a sense of place and emotional involvement that are essential to meaningful learning processes in childhood. In our societies, with the current growing trends of ‘Young people disconnection from Nature’ and ‘Extinction or Decreasing Botany Teaching’, Schools will have to be able to awaken in young people a passion for nature, so that they can then better understand and protect it, and empower them to halt biodiversity loss, during the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030).

This visit had the support of Municipality of Loulé, which provided students transportation by Bus. The Emc2 Project is funded by the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT, Portugal), through the strategic projects UIDB/04292/2020 and UIDP/04292/2020 granted to MARE - Center for Marine and Environmental Sciences, and project LA/P/0069/2020 granted to the Associated Laboratory ARNET - Aquatic Research Network.

By Alexandra Abreu