O testemunho No. 1 do Joan (SPEA)

 

 Hello Everyone 

My name is Joan and I am from Barcelona. I came to Portugal on November 2021 to start my volunteering program in a project with the Marine Conservation Dptm. from SPEA in Faro, in the Portuguese Algarve.

I had already participated in similar projects, in which I had to live near where the field work was, but I had not yet lived outside of Spain. That was one of the reasons why this was an experience I couldn't miss.

Although the first few weeks were a bit chaotic, I immediately got to know the people I share the project with, and I was able to make other friends in the city. In fact, beyond the project, and as part of the experience, I have been able to meet people with similar interests to mine with whom I can share my free time. Really, I don't have much time to get bored.

since I’ve been here, I’ve been lucky enough to be able to do a wide variety of tasks, from spending days on a boat doing seabird censuses to being able to scour the Algarve coast monitoring endangered species populations. We’ve also done tougher tasks like removing exotic flora or controlling invasive wildlife, 

But I can say that I’ve enjoyed each one. Between all this work and my free time, I am learning a lot about things I already knew and others that I am discovering, On top of all that, I was able to continue my training as a biologist through online courses and training, which was one of my goals before I came here.

For now, I look forward to the arrival of spring and the beginning of the nesting season for birds in the area, as well as seeing the awakening of life on the islands where we work. Let's see what surprises it brings us.