The Emc2 ‘Exploring white crowberry Coastal habitats’ Project Drawings Exhibition, which runs from 15th November to 6th December 2024, at the Sagres Fortress, presents a set of drawings made by students who took part in field trips to Cape St Vincent during the month of June 2024, as part of the Emc2 educational project. This project, coordinated by Researcher Alexandra Abreu Lima (MARE-ARNET & INIAV, I.P.) raises awareness about the white crowberry plant - Corema album (L.) D. Don (Family Ericaceae) - a plant of high conservation value, prone to extirpation in some Atlantic coastal areas of the Iberian Peninsula, whose female plants have small white edible fruits.

The oceans connect people and their stories through salty seas. Its constantly evolving coastal zones are places of multiple dynamic interactions, with opportunities to become aware of the richness of the coastal heritage, both cultural and natural, as it is the case at Sagres Fortress.


To celebrate the Portuguese National Maritime Day (16th November), there is a double heritage to discover in Sagres until 6th December: ‘The Sagres Fortress’, with its high cultural richness, and the ‘White crowberry plant’, represented in drawings and present inside the Fortress, within the vegetation that grows between rocks. This plant is a unique natural treasure, given its narrow range geographical distribution in the Iberian Atlantic coast, between Gibraltar and Finisterre, with a presence on some Azorean islands (Iberian endemism) and the particularity of having white or pinkish small fruits.


Emc2 Project is financed by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT, I.P., Portugal), through the strategic projects UIDB/04292/2020 (https://doi.org/10.54499/UIDB/04292/2020) and UIDP/04292/2020 (https://doi.org/10.54499/UIDP/04292/2020) granted to MARE - Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre, and the project LA/P/0069/2020 (https://doi.org/10.54499/LA/P/0069/2020) granted to the Associate Laboratory ARNET - Aquatic Research Network.