JIMENA - Some 600 metres of one of the affluents of the Hozgarganta, often called the only remaining virgin river of the Mediterranean Basin, is presently being subjected to a detailed study carried out by Agaden, the environmentalist pressure and study group. This is the second such study aimed at classifying and qualifying the vegetation of the riverbanks, and which this time is taking place at Arroyo del Cañuelo and Finca Chinchilla, where a total of 25 hectares will be under scrutiny.>In order to carry out the study Agaden has the support of the Junta's Department of the Environment, which also finances a course on Biodiversity held by biologist Federico Sánchez Tundidor, the students of which will also be carrying out the study. Both the course and the study are scheduled to continue until April 23rd, having started last week.
The project was born at the beginning of the 1990s, when there was a possibility that a huge dam was to built in the upper reaches of the Hozgarganta. Agaden, where environmental alarms were loudest, took it upon itself to try to increase awarenes of the importance of the river. Spokesperson Francisco Rebolledo points out: "If an enormous variety of vegetation can be found in just a few square metres, imagine what there might be along the river's 35 kilometres."
Oral tradition
An innovation this year is the use of the village elderly, whose knowledge of the area is to be used in the study. "We want to take advantage of all that knowledge, inherited from the oral tradition handed out throughout the generations," says Rebolledo. Parallel to the study, too, the idea is to start a herbolarium with all the species found, for which permission has been obtained from the department (it is strictly forbidden to remove any kind of vegetation from the Park, except mushrooms, which can result in very heavy fines).
At present there are some 25 people involved in the project but Rebolledo tells us that they could do with more volunteers. If you are intereste in becoming one, or have a general interest in 'our' river, call at Agaden's Casa Verde of an evening.
The project was born at the beginning of the 1990s, when there was a possibility that a huge dam was to built in the upper reaches of the Hozgarganta. Agaden, where environmental alarms were loudest, took it upon itself to try to increase awarenes of the importance of the river. Spokesperson Francisco Rebolledo points out: "If an enormous variety of vegetation can be found in just a few square metres, imagine what there might be along the river's 35 kilometres."
Oral tradition
An innovation this year is the use of the village elderly, whose knowledge of the area is to be used in the study. "We want to take advantage of all that knowledge, inherited from the oral tradition handed out throughout the generations," says Rebolledo. Parallel to the study, too, the idea is to start a herbolarium with all the species found, for which permission has been obtained from the department (it is strictly forbidden to remove any kind of vegetation from the Park, except mushrooms, which can result in very heavy fines).
At present there are some 25 people involved in the project but Rebolledo tells us that they could do with more volunteers. If you are intereste in becoming one, or have a general interest in 'our' river, call at Agaden's Casa Verde of an evening.
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