The Institute of Forests and Nature Conservation (IFCN) will tomorrow, Saturday, the 28th of September at 10 am in the leisure area of Cruzinhas, Fonte do Bispo, municipality of Calheta carry out their seed collection initiative.
“The action already has numerous interested parties, such as the organisation and volunteers of Ecotrail Funchal – Madeira, but there is still room for more volunteers who want to contribute to this cause,” reveals the IFCN, in a statement.
The invitation is extended to all volunteers who want to join this action. After the concentration at the indicated location, the participants will be accompanied by IFCN employees to the collection point, where the necessary technical support will be provided to ensure the correct harvesting and packaging of the seeds.
“After the end of the action, all the seeds collected will be sent to the Santa Forest Nursery (Porto Moniz), where they will be processed and packaged. This initiative’s main objective is to increase the availability of genetic material, essential for the production of seedlings for future reforestation actions, aiming, in particular, to recover areas affected by the fires of last August. In addition, a proportion of the collected seeds will be dispersed directly in the burned areas, aiming for a faster and more effective recovery of these places.”
All participants must wear footwear and clothing appropriate to the activity (to prevent possible weather changes). If they prefer, they can also take multipurpose disposable gloves (kitchen latex type or similar) to prevent their hands from being stained with the pulp of the fruits, making washing difficult. The IFCN also informs that it will provide all the necessary materials, however, it asks participants to bring transparent bags or equivalent for individual collection.
Samantha Gannon
info at madeira-weekly.com
