© Consorci Alba-Ter
25/06/2013

Outing with Master´s students from the Universitat de Girona (January)

On January 11, the Ter Consortium took 32 Universitat de Girona (UdG) students currently enrolled in Master´s degrees related to water and the environment to visit project sites. Our staff led presentations about the project and students headed home with printed materials about the work we are doing. Over the course of the day, we focused on how temporary flood zones are created and their importance for biodiversity. We also emphasized the need to monitor exotic invasive species, with students holding a debate about this topic.
25/06/2013

Follow-up meeting of the executive committees (February)

On February 13, technical staff and politicians who sit on our executive committees came together for a follow-up meeting about the Riparia-Ter project. During the meeting, which was held at the Factoria Cultural Coma-Cros in Salt, we discussed progress on the project and steps that had been taken to date, including preparatory steps, specific conservation, promotion and awareness programs, project management and scientific monitoring. Committee members visited work sites in the TER-1 and TER-2 zones on February 25.
25/06/2013

European Commission monitoring visit (April)

The fourth Riparia-Ter monitoring meeting took place on April 22. Participants included Ainhoa Darquistade, an external monitor from the IDOM-ASTRALE team based in Bilbao who was designated by the European Comission, and Esther Pozo, the European Commission´s technical coordinator for the project. Over the course of the day, participants visited project zones. An administrative meeting which aimed to assess work completed to date and resolve any questions about the final implementation of the Riparia-Ter project was also held.
25/06/2013

L’Estany Consortium´s LIFE Conference and the Sixth Natural Environment Conference in Girona (April)

In April, the Ter Consortium´s technical team gave several presentations about the LIFE+ Nature Riparia-Ter Project. First, we visited the Second Conference on Invasive Species in Rivers and Wetlands and Control and Management Techniques, held on April 10-12 as part of the LIFE + Estany Project. Then, on April 20-21, we headed to the Sixth Natural Environment Conference in Girona, where staff participated in several talks and organized a visit to the “Deveses de Salt” (TER-2 zone) for approximately seventy people.

Over 1,300 people participate in LIFE+ Nature Riparia-Ter activities in the first six months of 2013

Spring activities
As part of the LIFE+ Nature "Recovery of the riparian habitats on the River Ter   (Riparia-Ter)" project co-financed by the European Union, the Ter Consortium organized a variety of activities at schools and in municipalities where work is taking place during the first six months of 2013. These activities aimed to publicize the project as a whole, with a special focus on aspects that improve biodiversity.
From January until late April, the BiodiversiTER exhibition visited numerous municipalities in El Ripollès and Osona. In El Ripollès, it traveled to the towns of Ripoll, Sant Joan de les Abadesses and Camprodon, where 378 primary school students participated in 16 guided tours.  In Osona, 209 primary and secondary school students enjoyed the exhibition during its stops in Vic, Manlleu and Torelló. Additionally, 500 primary school students from El Gironès planted trees along the banks of the Ter: 46 fifth graders from CEIP Agustí Gifre in Sant Gregori, 50 fourth graders from CEIP Doctor Sobrequés in Bescanó and 400 fourth graders from several schools in Salt. Students from Sant Gregori and Bescanó planted trees on the “Illa de la Pilastra” (in the TER-1 zone) and students from Salt planted trees in “Les Deveses” (in the TER-2 zone). Schools gave very positive feedback about the program, which helped make students aware of the importance of preserving riparian habitats in order to decrease water speed during river flooding, retain sediments and other materials and maintain biodiversity. On March 10, a scout troop also planted trees in the “Hortes de Santa Eugènia” (TER-2 zone).
These projects took place after our mid-January activities, when we began planting native saplings obtained from forest reproductive material that we had collected in nearby areas in autumn 2010 and spring 2010 in riverside forests in the areas included in the project. We planted alders (Alnus glutinosa), ash trees (Fraxinus angustifolia), white poplars (Populus alba), elms (Ulmus minor), willows (Salix spp.) and elders (Sambucus nigra).
Furthermore, in April and May the Ter Consortium and the El Blauet Association organized a variety of activities during which 150 participants learned about the shores of the Ter River. Two activities designed to help people expand their knowledge of amphibians took place in the “Deveses de Salt” (TER-2 zone) and the “Hortes de Santa Eugènia” (TER-2 zone), attracting 25 participants each. Furthermore, two bird ringing days took place in the “Illa d'Avall” (TER-4 zone) and the “Illa de la Pilastra” (TER-1 zone), attracting 75 and 20 participants, respectively. The goal of these events was to learn about the species we caught and explain the scientific purposes of bird ringing.

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Monitoring amphibians in Riparia-Ter

Author: Carles Feo Quer

On spring evenings, you´re certain to hear amphibians along the banks of the Ter River. In “Les Deveses de Salt” and “Les Hortes de Santa Eugènia” you can make out the sounds of green frogs, tree frogs and midwife toads. LIFE Riparia has monitored amphibians using the results of three annual censuses of night calls in points located on three different routes. In addition to listening to frog calls, we were also able to spot less audible species like the common toad, painted frog and palmate newt by lantern light. Though we were unable to find the western spadefoot toad, which also inhabits the region, we did find a positive sign of the area’s potential: several clutches of tadpole eggs. Nevertheless, obstacles including invasive fish, the red swamp crawfish and water management may keep these populations from recovering totally.
We would especially like to point out the fact that new ponds in the “Illa d´Avall” in Jafre were quickly colonized by painted frogs, green frogs and natterjack toads. Similar ponds in Salt will also have a positive impact in the future.
TECHNICAL HEADQUARTERS: C/ Sant Antoni, 1 (Cultural Factory Coma-Cros) · 17190 Salt · Tel.972 40 50 91 · albater@grn.es
ADMINISTRATIVE HEADQUARTERS: Passeig del Ter, 2 (Museu Industrial del Ter) · 08560 Manlleu · Tel.93 850 71 52 · albater@albater.org
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