Within the Emc2 Project 'Exploring white crowberry coastal habitats’, coordinated by Researcher Alexandra Abreu Lima (MARE-ARNET & INIAV, I.P.) during the week of World Environment Day (5th June), several field trips were carried out at Forte de Beliche zone, in Cabo de S. Vicente (Sagres, Algarve). Between the 5th and 7th of June, around 100 students, aged 6 to 10, from the Vila do Bispo School Group (Sagres, Vila do Bispo and Budens) participated in field trips to observe the endemic plant with a common name 'camarinha' or 'camarinheira' (white crowberry, in English), and the scientific name Corema album (L.) D.Don.
These field trips included the collaboration of several Teachers from the Vila do Bispo School Group; Ana Carla Cabrita, Walkin'Sagres Nature Guide (who highlighted the rich biodiversity of the Costa Vicentina) and the support of the Vila do Bispo Municipality in providing bus transportation for students.
These visits allowed students to get to know various plants of the local flora and the white crowberry, which is an endemic Iberian shrub (as worldwide it exists only in Portugal and Spain, and nowhere else), whose female plants produce 'camarinhas', small white or pink edible fruits.
After the field trips, students draw, in classroom, the white crowberry and other plants they have seen, for a Drawing Exhibition to be organized by the end of 2024, which will be announced in due time.
Project EMC2 is funded by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), through the strategic projects UIDB/04292/2020 and UIDP/04292/2020 attributed to MARE - Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre, and of project LA/P/0069/2020 assigned to the Associated Laboratory ARNET - Aquatic Research Network.