Management and restoration of a protected Catalan wetlands

CODE: CAT0825

Work:

The general objective of the work camp is to show the environmental reality of a territory and how to intervene in it by:
1. Contributing to the improvement and conservation of the Natural Area of Sils wetlands.
2. Knowing the biodiversity and the characteristic habitats of these humid zones
3. Knowing the land stewardship, the actors in the territory that participate and good practices.
4. Transmitting values of cooperation and respect towards the environment and its inhabitants.
5. Offering a space for exchange and discovery of the different realities of the participants, mainly in environmental issues and for the conservation and management of natural spaces.
6. Encouraging responsible consumption in every way. On the one hand, as an important measure for our environment; on the other hand, in the use of new technologies and other aspects related to the care of oneself and the community.
7. Promoting participants to become diffusers.
8. Showing Catalan culture through vividness and networking.

The volunteers will work 6 hours a day from Monday to Friday, and the rest of the day there will be environmental education workshops, games, swimming pool and leisure time. The local population will not participate in the actions but they will participate in the leisure activities such as traditional dances, the astronomy workshop, etc.

Accomodation and food

The accommodation is located in the "Sala Cultural" of La Laguna (the local cultural center).
La Laguna is a space of about 800m2, with different rooms. On the one hand, at the bottom there is a very large entrance that is used as an entrance but also as a room for activities due to its capacity. And right next door it has a kitchen. On the other hand, there are separate boys and girls toilets, between this room and the large room. All the volunteers will sleep in the same space all together.

The large hall is about 510 m2, where all kinds of activities take place (plays, dances, etc.). This would be the sleeping and resting area for the participants.
At the top there are two more spaces, which would be "el galliner" and a very large corridor that is also used as a room for some activities. In addition, it has two offices and a material and cleaning room. The equipment has a kitchen with the basics and the food as much as possible will be organic.

The menu is balanced with fresh products every day so that it provides all the necessary nutrients with the environment in mind, but since they consume practically no fish and little meat, it means no meat is eaten daily. We accept vegetarian and vegan participants and consider the whole issue of food allergies. No problem if you are vegetarian, vegan and/or with allergies and/or intolerance; If there are vegetarian participants, they must say so at the time of registration because the organization will consider an alternative menu.
There will be a total of 5 meals throughout the day, breakfast early in the morning, a mid-morning break to eat fruit or snacks, lunch, afternoon snack and finally dinner.

The participants will be organized in groups and will have to cook the food in rotation. There is a basic kitchen to be able to cook and also a microwave. It is not recommended that participants can eat and use the kitchen outside the established hours.

The dining room is equipped with tables and benches, and there will be an area of toilets and showers. In addition, we hope to be able to go to the pool and, in our case, exceptionally, use the showers of that equipment.

There is Wifi and electricity, there is no washing machine or dryer and volunteers will wash by hand and dry their clothes upstairs.

Location and leisure

Sils Lake is a protected natural area included in the Plan of Spaces of Natural Interest (PEIN) of Catalonia. It is part of the European Network of Natural Spaces Natura 2000, which is at the core of European biodiversity policies. In recent centuries, areas of natural flooding have receded and today they are scarce in Catalonia. In our Mediterranean context, the conservation of spaces such as the Sils Lake has become of the highest interest. Due to its special humidity and flood conditions, several species of flora and fauna characteristic of wetlands are still preserved in this area.

Sils will be your accommodation town in your stage in Catalunya. Sils is a municipality and town of the “comarca de la Selva”. It is located at the bottom of the “comarca” plain and its southern third was occupied until the mid-nineteenth century by the lake of Sils, which we will restore. The town has 6.093 citizens and it’s located near Girona, Lloret de Mar or Sta. Coloma de Farners.
Lake Sils is a protected natural area in accordance with the legislation of the Generalitat de Catalunya, and has been proposed to be included in the European Natura 2000 network. It is the remains of a lagoon that was drained in the past in order to obtain new farmland and fight malaria. However, thanks to the conditions of special humidity and the annual floods, species of flora and fauna characteristic of the humid zones are still conserved. In recent centuries, areas of natural flooding in Catalonia have suffered a major recession and are currently scarce in Catalonia. On the other hand, in a predominantly Mediterranean context, the conservation of natural spaces such as the Sils lake is one of the most interesting.

There will be leisure activities every day, and some days some excursions, here attached a list of the main activities that will be done:
• Knowledge activities
• Group cohesion dynamics
• Self management activities "Do it together"
• Excursion to Can Moragues, headquarters of Fundació Emys. A country house, situated in Riudarenes, next to Sils.
• Excursion to Girona
• Excursion to Costa Brava town
• Excursion to Farners Castle

Project hosted by

Emys Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to the conservation of nature, especially wetlands and the terrapin Emys orbicularis, that give the name to the Foundation. Born in 2003, Emys foundation is located close to Riudarenes on a country farm called Can Moragues. Emys orbicularis is the native terrapin of Catalunya, north Africa and most parts of Europe. In 1987 a group of young people discovered through a talk that in his region there was an endangered terrapin, the Emys orbicularis. They decided to do something to help that species. Those people started doing custody agreements with local territory owners to protect ponds, streams and lakes. And this is how Emys Foundation starts. Actually, Emys orbicularis is still endangered because of the destruction of the habitat, exotic species and water contamination. In the Selva region we found the best-preserved population in Catalonia with more than 500 animals. The organization works with a conciliatory view, where the challenge is involving the owners, managers and users of the territory in the natural heritage values, its sustainable management and its long-term conservation. All this is done by voluntary work, land stewardship, research, conservation, education and consciousness-raising. The organization has been ground-breaking in the field of amphibian and reptiles and has been awarded on different occasions. The research projects made by Emys Foundation receive advice from investigation groups of different Universities (University of Barcelona, University Autonoma of Barcelona, University of Girona and also the Aranzadi Science Society). The technicians of Emys Foundation are also university investigators and take part actively in the writing and publication of scientist articles, congress executions and technical conferences. All the information collected in the research projects of the Foundation is used to evaluate and improve our methods of natural environmental management.

Directions to meeting point

The meeting point will be on Saturday, 2th August at 16h, at the train station of Sils (https://goo.gl/maps/2UNJVdJVqTk). The workcamp leaders will be waiting for the volunteers there. The train station is 100m from the accommodation.

By public transportation:

By train: in order to reach the Sils train station, you must take the R11 line that connects Barcelona, Granollers, Girona, Figueres and Portbou.
Train hours can be found at the following link: https://rodalies.gencat.cat/web/.content/02_Horaris/horaris/R11.pdf

By car: From Girona: Take the N-II. Once you see the directions, take the exit towards G-155, until the Mallorquines. Once there, take the C-63. From Barcelona: Take the C-33 and then the AP7. Once in the AP7 continue until you find the departures 9A-9B direction Palamós. Continue on for C-35. Take N-II, C-63 and Carrer de l'Estany to “Plaça de l’Estació” to Sils.

LAST DAY OF THE CAMP:
The workcamp will finish after breakfast at 9h and volunteers can leave.

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