News

- URDAIBAI RESERVE - Members of visitor centers and students from Norway (Dokka Delta), Portugal (Evoa), Great Britain (Martin Mere) and The Basque Country (Urdaibai Bird Center) met in Martin Mere last week in order to share their experiences in the monitoring of climate change indicators in wetland areas.

Group of participants in the workshop at Martin Mere

The meeting was part of the "BIOWET Erasmus +" project, which is financed by the European Union Erasmus + programme. Also collaborating in the project is "Wetland Link International", a network of wetland visitor centers from all over the world.

Wetlands are areas of great environmental importance. In addition to their contibution to biodiversity and biological productivity, they are of benefit to humans. They provide water for consumption and irrigation as well as being leisure areas rich in flora and fauna.

Wetland moth identification

The "BIOWET" Project aims to give students an understanding of the biodiversity in wetlands and how climate change affects this fragile ecosystem. At the same time, the data gathered systematically in the different locations will provide a deeper insight into the impact of climate change in this habitat.

Field work in the wetland

The meeting in Martin Mere was the first in a series of exchanges between the participants. In the future there will be meetings in Urdaibai, the Tagus Estuary and the Dokka Delta. Students from the secondary school "Instituto Barrutialde" will participate in these meetings.