The little bird in my hand looks as delicate as glass. I take a deep breath, focus on the bright yellow on her eyes, and think carefully about the instructions I was given: Hold your legs firmly but slowly between your fingers, and grab your other hand underneath. Then let go of your mastery.
When I do, the goldcrest — the smallest bird of riches in Europe — flies and disappears from the shifting peaks of the Pyrenees.
He is standing in a lush mountain pasture in a country that many Americans do not even know exists: Andorra. The name evokes a mythical land of inchantment where sprites and fairies frolic. But Andorra is actually a real place where travelers can help in real science.
I’ve joined a small group of volunteers on a 51-year-old, non-profit Earthwatch-led nine-day expedition to send good people around the world to assist in research, whether it’s ancient archeology in Italy or rhino conservation in the south. Africa.
Here in Andorra, a microstat inserted into the foothills of the Pyrenees mountain range between France and Spain, ecologist Bernat Claramunt-López is on an ambitious mission: a multi-year study of almost all parts of the fragile alpine ecosystem — from microscopic to towering soil organisms. pine trees — to determine the effects of climate change.
While the most obvious one is the melting of glaciers, it is less known about the impact on plants, animals, and their complexly connected textures. The results of his study are expected to shape conservation policies in Andorra and beyond.
But Claramunt-López cannot do it alone. Depending on volunteers, also known as citizen scientists. Since starting his project in 2016, they have contributed about 15,000 working hours. “More hands in the field means more data, and in science we need data,” he says.
Equally important to him is the opportunity to break down the barriers between science and the public. Disseminating research through scientific documents alone is not enough, says Claramunt-López. “I can share what I know, or what we discover in this project, directly with society.”
For volunteers, it’s a chance to discover a destination in ways that take them away from the typical tourist trail and connect them with people from a variety of backgrounds — all while contributing to research that aims to protect the planet. In other words, traveling on purpose.
Lakes, valleys, and peaks
Since there are no airports or train stations in Andorra, a country of 181 square miles that feel higher than wide, I meet fellow volunteers in Barcelona for the September 2021 expedition. Tricia Harris , a London-based project manager at a high-tech company, and Tim Hoffman, an engineer who makes parts for the U. See the article : Summer Fun at 101 promotes local music, helping to support scholarships.S. Navy in Lexington, Massachusetts, are grafted, covered, and mountain ready in pants and hiking boots.
Both are volunteer travel devotees, but neither has been in Andorra. I didn’t know anything about the place until I joined this expedition in 2017. As our bus enters Andorra and we are surrounded by emerald green mountains, I wonder how such an old and beautiful country can be so far away. American travel radar.
Founded in 1278, Andorra is the only country in the world whose official language is Catalan and the only one that is co-principality. It is officially headed by the Bishop of Urgell, in Spain, and the president of France, although most of the power now resides in the elected parliament.
With its rugged peaks, wooded valleys, and crystal-clear glacial lakes, Andorra does indeed attract visitors, mostly from other European countries. Many of them hit the ski slopes or hike the trails ranging from afternoon hikes for the family to serious multi-day treks where mountain huts provide rustic accommodation.
(Find epic adventures in these European villages.)
Cultural sites such as the Casa Rull house museum, a time capsule of village life in the late 19th to early 20th century, and the Rossell iron forge of 1842, offer windows. for the country’s hard past. The luxuries of the present can be found in the capital city of Andorra la Vella, home to the largest thermal spa in southern Europe and a wealth of low-tax shopping opportunities.
But for Claramunt-López, Andorra’s attraction lies in its natural landscapes. The 53-year-old lean man has been touring the Pyrenees since he was a child raised in Catalonia. “I studied biology because I wanted to be in the mountains watching birds and plants and nature,” he says.
He is now the coordinator of the European Mountain Research Network and, as a researcher at the Center for Ecological Research and Forest Applications at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, where he also teaches, leads some nine annual shipments in Andorra.
Exploring alpine biodiversity
On the first day of our work, we get up before sunrise over El Serrat, a stone village in the north-west of Andorra where the family-run Hotel Bringué serves as our base camp. To see also : Europe is considered the worst place to travel this summer due to the chaos of the airport. Together with Claramunt-López and two on-site technicians — biologists Jana Marco, from Alicante, Spain, and Oriol Palau, based in Catalonia — we filled our backpacks with the necessities of the day: tapes, nets, ropes, poles, calipers, notebooks, computers. , sandwiches.
Because this is the first expedition since the pandemic closed, and there are fewer volunteers than usual eight to 12, we have a lot to do.
To cover more ground, we combine one volunteer with one scientist, and address different tasks. Marco and I have a small mammal duty. We need to check a plot where live human traps have been installed to assess animal diversity and abundance. Driving along a winding road, with two lanes barely takes us into a screw pasture from small streams. I follow Marco as he jumps and jumps from side to side, with his dark ponytail swaying, to reach the first trap of 36 placed along a patch of dewy hill.
We each take a line, find the metal boxes in their hiding places near a rock pile or a grass pile and look for a closed door, which can mean a critter, such as a garden dormouse or a volley of ice, it’s inside. After a few minutes, I excitedly shouted “shut up!” Marco hurries and slowly opens the door. Alas, the trap is empty, as are the others. Disappointed but heartless, Marco leads the way up the mountain to the main research site of the day.
About an hour later, we arrive at a high-elevation plateau. Located along the tree line near a glittering glacial lake, it gives us great views over the Ordino Biosphere Reserve, a 33 square mile area recognized by UNESCO for its ecological diversity and the protection of endangered species. fail, like the bearded vulture.
(Here are some other ways volunteer scientists are making a difference.)
We first assemble the remote cameras so that they are not damaged during the winter. Photos will be reviewed later for the numbers and types of animals caught in the frames, most likely red foxes, chamois, deer, wild boar, marmots, and a fair display of free range horses.
To reach each of the five remote camera traps, we cross the mountains, navigate to steep places where we catch lumps of grass or rocky edges to pull ourselves up. When I move to one particularly drafted section, Marco grabs my hand and supports me on it.
Then we find the black pine trees wrapped in a metal dendrometer band, record their growth, and check the bird’s nest boxes before moving down along a fast stream to join the rest of the group on a grassy slope.
Marco, who is equipped with a special bird license, shows us how to set up fog nets. Then she presses play on a recording of bird calls, and we wait. But it doesn’t last. Soon we will have the goldcrest and two slightly larger birds of prey — coal tit and Eurasian blackcap.
As we look ahead, Marco attaches metal bands of identity, inspects the feathers, and takes on body weights. It also blows on the belly of each bird to expose bare skin, so you can assess fat and muscle levels. I madly record all the information in a notebook, and then Harris, Hoffman, and I each take a turn to release a bird. Every time one goes to freedom, it feels like magic.
On a scientific adventure
Over the next few days, we alternate clouds, share and regroup as we take the remaining research sites. Walking, measuring, recording, we find ourselves slowing down as we take another care. This may interest you : Amazon Prime Video scores rights to UK Champions League football from 2024, shared with BT. Our whole world seems to be with these people in these mountains.
Every night at the hotel dinner — where we feast on local specialties such as trinxat, potato-cabbage-pork hash, and crema catalana, a decadent custard-like dessert — we see the day’s exploits.
Harris and Marco tell us about the extravaganza of their birds, when they put together 20 birds in two hours. “So many birds appeared,” says Harris, “and then they kept coming even as we were gathering those we caught.” Claramunt-López and I describe the mysterious sound that stopped the cold in the middle of measuring tree seedlings. (The image of a sprite comes to mind briefly.) We all laugh at the garden twig that appears every day in the same trap, tucked into the cotton bedding.
And we wonder how much Hoffman, who is still recovering from knee surgery, is handling the challenging terrain. It probably helps that scientists seem to never see impediments, only opportunities, and their enthusiasm is infectious.
Expedition “is not just a science; it’s a science with people, ”says Marco. “And that combination, I think, is just perfect.”
On the day of rest, we take a dose of Andorran culture when Claramunt-López takes us to one of several historic churches that connect the landscape. Built between the eighth and 12th centuries, the simple stone building of the Church of Santa Coloma contains a round bell tower that was once used as a means of communication with other mountain villages. The elaborate interior frescoes, erected in 1930, have since been recovered.
By the end of the expedition, we had climbed 12 mountains, retrieved 60 cameras, pulled out of 108 nest boxes, tagged 35 small mammals, fetched 74 birds, and measured more than a thousand trees. We are tired but also surprisingly rejuvenated, we know that our hard work counts.
A few trends are already beginning to emerge from research, says Claramunt-López. There appears to be an increase in soil microbial activity, which means that more carbon is being released into the atmosphere. Also, trees at high elevation, where it is colder and windier, are growing faster than those at low elevation. Both are likely the result, at least in part, of warming temperatures.
On the last day, as we walk through a wide mountain valley where the leaf edges are still starting to turn red with autumn fire, I think about the landscapes we flew, the wildlife we saw, the cultural nuances we have learned. .
Although the expedition lasts less than two weeks, its effects remain, and not just in terms of research. Hoffman sums it up well when he says it gave him “new knowledge and inspiration on how I want to live my life.”
Andorra, it turns out that after all it can be enchanted land.
How to Travel for Voluntary Science |
“Wildlife in the Changing Andorran Pyrenees” accepts volunteers for spring, summer and autumn expeditions. Earthwatch operates about 30 other science trips of citizens around the world. Other remote volunteering opportunities are offered by Biosphere Expeditions and Adventure Scientists. The Nature Conservancy also runs projects in the United States and abroad. For a start on citizen science and lists more than 3,000 projects, visit SciStarter, founded by National Geographic Explorer Darlene Cavalier.
Brooke Sabin is an editor for National Geographic. Follow her on Instagram.
Photographer Jaime Rojo is a National Geographic Explorer. Learn more about the Society of Explorers ’support of highlighting and protecting critical species and landscapes.
Why does Europe have so many micro states?
In Europe, the six existing microstates are primarily political holdovers from a bygone era when the feudal lords ruled over defined territory. They resisted the tides of history as neighboring territories were absorbed into larger political entities to become the modern states we know today.
How many European microstats are there? The seven microstates of Europe, namely Andorra, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Malta, San Marino, the Sovereign Order of St. John, and the Vatican City are notable not only for their size, but for their persistence. Many have been around for centuries, while much larger empires have come and gone.
What are the 4 European microstates?
Andorra, Liechtenstein, Monaco, and San Marino qualify as microstates, each located in a different part of Europe. The total population of the four exceeds just over 150,000, and Andorra amounts to almost 69,000.
Why do microstates exist?
The individual reasons for the survival of European microstates can be read from their history on their respective wikipedia pages but in general it comes down to two main factors; firstly by the 19th Century they were already protectorates of larger neighbors and, secondly, they were too small to be affected.
Why European countries are so small?
Originally Answered: Why are so many countries in Europe so small? Because in Europe, after the disintegration of the Western Roman Empire, many “city-states” were formed, which survived in the principalities and counties, and after their eventual unification, the war that next cut the countries.
Which country would not be considered a European microstate?
Andorra, Liechtenstein, Monaco, San Marino, and the Vatican City remain outside the Union, because the EU was not designed with microstats in mind. Andorra is, by population, the largest of the five microstates with 78,115 citizens according to a 2011 census.
What are the five microstates in Europe? The seven microstates of Europe, namely Andorra, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Malta, San Marino, the Sovereign Order of St. John, and the Vatican City are notable not only for their size, but for their persistence.
What are the 4 European microstates that are among the 6 smallest in the world?
European microstates or European ministries are a set of very small sovereign states in Europe. The term is typically used to refer to the six smallest states in Europe by area: Andorra, Liechtenstein, Malta, Monaco, San Marino, and the Vatican City.
What are the 4 European microstates?
Andorra, Liechtenstein, Monaco, and San Marino qualify as microstates, each located in a different part of Europe. The total population of the four exceeds just over 150,000, and Andorra amounts to almost 69,000.
Is Iceland in the EU?
Although Iceland is not a member of the European Union (EU), its relationship with the EU is mainly based on the EEA Agreement, which entered into force in 1994.
Are Iceland and Norway in the EU? The EEA consists of 31 countries: the 28 EU member states, along with Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. We refer to the last three as the ‘EEA EFTA States’. (EFTA is the European Free Trade Association.)
Is Iceland is part of EU?
European Economic Area (EEA) The EEA includes EU countries as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. It allows them to be part of the EU’s single market.
Is Iceland in NA or EU?
Iceland belongs to Europe Yes, Iceland is part of Europe. It belongs to Scandinavia along with Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland. Before gaining independence in 1918 Iceland belonged to the kingdom of Denmark.
What are the 4 European microstates?
Andorra, Liechtenstein, Monaco, and San Marino qualify as microstates, each located in a different part of Europe. The total population of the four exceeds just over 150,000, and Andorra amounts to almost 69,000.
What are the 4 European microstats that are among the 6 smallest in the world? European microstates or European ministries are a set of very small sovereign states in Europe. The term is typically used to refer to the six smallest states in Europe by area: Andorra, Liechtenstein, Malta, Monaco, San Marino, and the Vatican City.
What is the largest European microstate?
Andorra is, by population, the largest of the five microstates with 78,115 citizens according to a 2011 census. Two other small countries, Luxembourg and Malta, are full members of the EU and both inhabited by populations of more than 400,000.
Which countries are microstates?
Commonly accepted examples of microstats include Andorra, Liechtenstein, the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Monaco, Nauru, Palau, San Marino and Tuvalu.
