Getting to know our river

(Source/photo: EuropaSur today) The Jimena chapter of environmentalist group Agaden is holding a course on the local environment -specifically the Hozgarganta river- at their Casa Verde headquarters. Such is the success of this initiative, which goes on until April in a combination of theoretical classes and practical field trips, that the number of places had to be expanded to include all parties interested in getting to know the river and its surroundings. The course leaders are Federico Sánchez Tundidor, botanist and mycologist (photo on field trip);>
Enrique Emberley, zoologist and entimologist; Lorenzo Sevilla, biologist and nature photographer; and Francisco Montoya, ornithologist at Cigüeña Negra. Most of the students come from the Forestry Unit at the Instituto Hozgarganta, which is named after the river.

Agaden's main objective is to increase awareness of the environmental, educational and conservational values of the river and its affluent, Arroyo Cañuelo, better known locally as Arroyo del Molino de San Francisco, as well as to use them for educational purposes so as to promote awareness of the need to conserve and respect the environment and its local biodiversity.

Towards the end of the course, students, whose work will also be evaluated as the course progresses, will be expected to have created an inventory of the flora and fauna of the area as well as a herbal index and an account of its reforestation.