After three solid days in the field around Doñana National Park in southern Spain, this is the day when the students write-up one of their field days as a poster. It gives Professor Nigel Paul some time to think about the challenges of conservation, and to identify some of the highlights of trip.
All 22 students are currently focussed on the challenge of getting their data into effective graphs, and summarising what they have done in just 300 carefully chosen words. So I have a chance to look back on what they have learnt this week.
While seeing an Iberian lynx would need enormous luck, the field course learns a great deal about them from local expert, Dr Guillermo Lopez from the Lynx Life project. In his talk, Guillermo explained that since the project started in 1994 the world population of Iberian lynx has increased from well under a hundred to more than three hundred. That still leaves the species critically endangered but this is a real success story: highlighting that to conserve a headline species like the lynx demands in depth understanding of whole ecosystems. In this case the rabbit that the lynx rely on and, in turn, the habitats that the rabbits need to thrive.
Conservation costs
Of course, it also needs money, and the Lynx Life project relies heavily on EU support. This is probably where I need to point you to the bit at the bottom of the page that says that the opinions expressed here are personal, and may not necessarily reflect the opinions of Lancaster University.
So, with that said, spending money on saving an animal as charismatic as the Iberian lynx seems pretty good value to me. From the discussions we have had here, I suspect most of the students here this week would agree, but we know not everyone would.
The way ecology and conservation interact with local societies and economies is at the heart of the way we teach at the Lancaster Environment Centre. That’s certainly true of this field course, and we’ll see tomorrow how the Doñana National Park fits in to its surroundings, whether that’s fruit or rice production, or the city of Sevilla.
A different perspective on Spain
Of course, the headlines of any Doñana field course are about more than ecology. Just being in the village of El Rocio is a unique experience, its like nowhere else in Spain. The fact that the petrol station sells riding stirrups and the number of shops selling flamenco dresses isn’t exactly what you’d expect at home.
I always enjoy seeing students trying out the local food, and gaining confidence in ordering it in Spanish. The tapas bars of Lancaster won’t be able to keep up unless they stock up with salmorejo, espinacas con garbanzos, carrilleras and cazon en adobo. For anyone tiring of the local dishes, help was at hand back at the campsite. One of the group prepared chicken in white wine sauce for fifteen using just two small hotplate rings. A far braver cook than me!
Its nearly time to view the posters, but before that I want to take a quick walk to the end of the campsite to see how my favourite birds, the bee-eaters, are doing. I haven’t said much about them, but there have been lots flying over all week, enough to keep me happy. We haven’t yet had any posing for the telescopes though. That’s always one of the wow moments of the trip, and time to see if today is the day.
Monday’s blog - Eucalyptus, storks and crayfish
Read[ all Nigel’s blogs about the rest of the trip. Learn more about studying Ecology and Conservation, or other biology and environmental degrees at the Lancaster Environment Centre, and about the fieldwork on offer to students.
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The opinions expressed by our bloggers and those providing comments are personal, and may not necessarily reflect the opinions of Lancaster University. Responsibility for the accuracy of any of the information contained within blog posts belongs to the blogger.