Yesterday marked the first year of life of our mascot Dona. She received a dog sweet as a present, which she chewed slowly, with pleasure. Fragas do Mandeo, the nature conservation fund of As Mariñas, also celebrated its first anniversary, since it was this very day in 2010 that the deed of incorporation was signed.
To celebrate, last Friday we held a public presentation of the performance assessment and statutory balance sheet of this first year of operation. The blue room of the Lyceum of Betanzos was full to capacity with an audience that enjoyed the slide shows and listened attentively to explanations about the work of Fragas do Mandeo.
It was not all talk. Following as scheduled, on Sunday volunteers and supporters participated in the removal of invasive alien species present in Alameda beach in Ponte do Porco (Miño), which threatened uncontrolled expansion on the dune ecosystem.
The ice plant (Carpobrotus edulis), which covered an area of 30 square meters, was completely uprooted and 61 plants of Pampas grass as well (Cortaderia selloana), but in this case it was not so easy. They were still small and the sandy soil should facilitate uprooting. But the truth was that the extensive and deep roots forced us to work hard, and even the handle of a shovel was broken. The day’s heat did not help, and working with short sleeves meant that some people ended up with scratched arms (the leaves are serrated and sharp).
While some pulled up the invasive plants, others picked up garbage. An endangered beetle is found on Alameda beach, the Eurynebria complanata. The world population of this coleopteran is in sharp decline, so precautionary measures have to be taken. The manual collection of garbage avoids using heavy machinery that can seriously damage the existing population.
At the same time, at the Do Campo Square of Betanzos, other volunteers were helping at a charity market. The stall was more than 20 metres long, where all kind of products were on sale: books, glassware, china, gifts, compact discs, accessories, etc. The bargains stimulated sales and many items found a new home, in accordance with the three “r’s”: «reduce, reuse, recycle. The funds raised will be used to acquire environmentally interesting plots in the area.
We want to thank Miño Council and the members of Civil Defence for their help in the transport and disposal of garbage and invasive plants; to Betanzos Council for lending us the Blue Room and the tables for the market stall; to the people and groups that helped us in various ways and who donated the articles sold there, among them the Rialeda Central Library, associations Eira Vella, Lar de Unta and Rabo do Galo, Grupo Naturalista Hábitat, Sociedade Galega de Historia Natural, Grupo Ornitolóxico Calidris and the photographer Manuel Cañás.
But above all, we thank the 23 volunteers who directly helped in the two-day event and in the preparations for it.
