I Meeting of Natural Sciences: meeting of naturalists
There are many who in the Basque Country work around nature, both on a professional and a hobby level. However, few of this community are known, which makes collaboration very difficult. This situation began to be revolutionized last weekend of November 9 and 10 at the 1st Congress of Natural Sciences. Meeting. The project organized by the Basque Summer University (UEU) allowed people working in the field of natural sciences in Euskal Herria to meet each other, to begin building bridges within the community and to lay the foundations of a network of collaboration for the future.
In addition to bringing nature lovers together, 18 guest speakers took part in addressing four current themes on nature. The speakers were present in different fields in order to obtain as broad a view as possible of the topics, such as scientists, technicians, members of natural groups, farmers, etc. In the round table we had four references of the Basque industry, discussing the place that the Basque language has or should occupy in a globalized scientific world.
Dead wood: fuel of forest biodiversity
The first session of the meetings focused on dead wood. What is the situation of our forests? From this question, the forest guard Miel Mari Elosegi began the session by taking a review of the history of forest management in the Basque Country. This management derives the current situation, that is, that it is forests in general of homogeneous trees and without dead wood.
The following was the importance of dead wood for fungi, insects and birds. It was explained how the fungi use the wood and the type of rot they provoke, how insects and birds take advantage of this rot to obtain their food and shelters and, in general, how the abundance and diversity of dead wood supports a prosperous and diverse forest life. All agreed that with forest management, something more needs to be achieved than the appropriate tables for sawmill.
Management of livestock bodies in the mountains of Euskal Herria
In the case of the bodies of cattle, cattle ranchers and coachmen were discussed. The attacks of the vultures had great repercussions a few years ago and, although in recent years the subject has calmed down, it is still controversial. The attacks on vultures have decreased in recent decades and, thanks to the slaughterhouses, they have not lacked food, with which the populations have increased considerably, reaching the largest populations in history.
The speakers spoke of the feeding of the vultures, the evolution of the relationship with man and the consequences of the attacks on living animals, and discussions arose about this. Iker Elosegi stressed that the experts were mistaken with such forceful denial of the attacks. Pastor Iñaki Otegi ended the program by eliminating the weight of vulture attacks and denouncing the ability of the media to exaggerate the controversies. He claimed that the real problem of farmers is not the vulture attacks, but the need to live so economically drowned.
Water resources and their ecosystem services
Due to the number of researchers that travel the rivers, the entrance of Iñaki Antiquity focused on the call to collaboration. In addition, it claimed a more general view of the river, that is, that the basin is more than the river.
The situation of rivers and wetlands was also discussed, and, although, in recent years, the quality of their waters has improved, they explained the ecological problems that rivers and wetlands have as a result of their exploitation. The problems of construction were treated in the riverbed, the invasive species, the discharges of pollutants...
Concrete actions such as the actions that the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa is carrying out in relation to the permeability of rivers and the project proposed by the Arkamurka Cultural Association of Zarautz for the Protected Biotope of Inurritza were also presented.
To determine the value of ecosystem services, Elisa Sainz de Murieta exposed the path of economic valorization and, knowing its limitations, highlights the ease it offers to approach non-expert people.
Sea: the current of climate change
Based on the Malaspina 2010 expedition, it was the opportunity to make a beautiful journey through the seabed from all over the world by Iñigo Azua. This expedition was the first part of an experiment to detect changes that are taking place at sea as a result of climate change and details were explained.
On the other hand, the role of the association BC3 Euskal Herriko Elkartea in the international project PERSEUS was announced. And the consequences of climate change could also be seen more locally, by the hand of AZTI researchers, Eneko Bachiller and Iñigo Muxika. These exposed concrete lines of research: they spoke about the influence of more direct human activities such as climate change and fishing, focusing on fish that are mainly fished in the sea of Bizkaia and in the benthic communities as protagonists.
The sea giant became clear in this program: What do we know about the sea? Where is our ignorance? We have gone to the Moon and Mars, but we do not know even 10% of the sea that represents two thirds of our Earth.
Round table: euskara zientzia
Txema Pitark was the one who led the round table and, after using the space to express his opinion, passed the witness to other speakers. Juan Ignacio Pérez Iglesias, Eider Cardboard and José Ramón Etxebarria spoke, respectively. All of them were very similar to what was expressed by the diners and it seemed that there would be no room for the debate, but the debate arose when the attendees asked about the realization of doctoral theses in Basque. Many of the rooms gave their opinion and, although a line of debate was not maintained, numerous ideas arose for reflection.
In addition, those who did not attend the meeting had the opportunity to follow the live conference through the Internet on the UEU YouTube channel. This served to provoke debate on the web, and after several days the debate was still alive.
Poster session and as no, food.
In the poster session, dozens of working groups, lines of work and projects were presented to identify and contact groups of interest. In addition, there will be another space for contacts initiated in the poster session. On Sunday at noon, in a festive atmosphere and in the most appropriate context to start the collaboration in Euskal Herria, the meeting ended: around the table. Dozens of people were able to enjoy a good meal and it was enough time to talk about everything that happened during the weekend.
Joke!
We would not like to end this report without thanking all the people who participated in the Encuentro and its organization. In the opinion of the organizers, I was a success. The meeting, in which we gathered almost 150 people, we believe that despite the lack of some sectors, in general the response was excellent. We spent a good weekend and people also stayed at ease. Despite being satisfied with the result, we have set ourselves the challenge of improving the following. In fact, after this first edition, we are more sure than ever that it will be worth organizing the following.
Joke to nature, science and the Basque language!
Zu idazle
Zientzia aldizkaria
