The volunteers of the fourth edition of the Monte da Espenuca work camp used the day to uproot the remaining small-leaf spiderwort and montbretia by the cascades formed by the As Bouzas stream. Tomorrow they will leave for their places of origin, taking a baggage of new experiences.
We met them to say goodbye and to thank them for their work, promising that we will keep checking that these exotic invasive species won’t recolonize the areas where they have eliminated them. And we also asked them to keep their commitment with nature conservation at their places of origin through direct action in the natural environment and collaboration with entities like this one.
The garden trailer was loaded with the bags filled with plant debris and litter. There were 500 kg of biomass and 52 kg of litter. The weight of the invasive plants has been less than that of previous years, but the work has been really positive, since they cleaned a long stretch of the stream along a really steep area, which made the work difficult.
There are still several spots with invasive species and litter along the stretch of the As Bouzas stream up to the Porto do Vao Bridge, by the road to A Espenuca.
The tributaries to the River Mandeo, even the small streams like this one, which are out of the protected natural heritage site, have a great ecological importance. Young fish find shelter there while they do not reach the sufficient size to go down to the river. Moreover, we can find several threatened species in the surroundings: amphibians such as golden-striped salamander and the Iberian frog, mollusc such as Quimper snail or fern such as Trichomanes speciosum.
In response to the need of restoring the natural state of the As Bouzas stream, we hope that these activities can continue in future work camps. We expect to count on the good management of the director, Jesús Díaz, and the Ribeirán Proxectos Naturais, the essential collaboration of the Coirós Council and the Directorate General for Youth, Participation and Volunteering of the Xunta de Galicia.
