Posted on September 3, 2020
First Encounters with Italian Culture
We landed in Italy two months ago and our arrival did not only mean the beginning of our cooperation with Project M.A.R.E., but also our involvement in Italian Culture. For some of us this encounter is brand new, for others it is not the first time being in the mainstream of local traditions and everyday life. By dedicating the month of August to Italian culture, we could get a deep insight into traditions, gastronomy and art with the help of natives. Here, you can read about our first impressions and experiences.
Akrem:
It might sound like a cliché, but food looks like it is really important in the Italian culture. It is through food that people share love, care, happiness and hardships. It is kind of the center of all events. That makes it more than just a survival need. You can clearly understand someone’s mood or character through their response to being offered food. More so with their way of offering it. Some people might look so rigid and unapproachable but at the same time, their sense of hospitality is somehow stronger than any other prejudice. Anywhere you go you are welcomed and greeted with food. That shows how Italians share and serve joy and love in plates of pastas and pizzas and olive oil and all those beautiful mouth-watering dishes.
Gonzalo:
It has been almost two months since my arrival in Italy and the truth is that I can only say good things about this wonderful experience. I have to admit that, in general, the Italian culture was not unknown to me and therefore the adaptation to the daily life has not been a great shock to me. In the instrumentalism in which I live, however the proximity to the sea and to nature, that this project is providing me, is worth mentioning. The contact with all this nature has been the best experience (apart from the people I have met) since my arrival two months ago.
Raquel:
I am happy!! As simple as that… This experience is the best that could have happened to me after the quarantine!! If I talk about the work, we volunteers are doing, in such an incredible place as Ieranto Bay… I mean… Protecting it the way we do makes me feel hopeful, since it can be reproduced all over the world… If we create an emotional bond with nature and understand its significance, we will wish to protect it with all our strength!! That is why it is so important to spread awareness!! Though it is interesting to verify that even in an informed society, there is still a lot of work to do. Let’s continue working on it then!! For a week, I am being a volunteer helping to monitor nests of turtles in Cilento and I can tell that is a fascinating process… But still, I can’t avoid feeling this pinch in my heart every time we release such small creatures in the sea…I wish them all the luck!!
Overall, my experience in Italy has been a learning process in all its dimensions and I am grateful for the opportunity!! I am finding such breath-taking places… Good food, really nice people, great conversations, with a great sense of humour. Yes, I start to understand the local jokes!! Haha! It has been without doubts an unforgettable month in my life!!
Arina:
Immersing myself into Italian culture was a new and exciting experience. Meeting local people, learning Italian language and traditions are incomparable with anything I knew about this country before coming to it. My favourite part of Italian culture month was cooking together traditional Italian dishes and going out on the walks in beautiful mountains to observe falling stars and share delicious food in the wonderful atmosphere. Climate, sea, good food and great company, there is nothing else I could wish for! Thank you for having me here!
Kristians:
Italy is such a beautiful, vibrant and dreamy country and I am beyond happy to be able to fulfill a long-held childhood dream of living here. Experiencing its culture has been an amazing journey, mainly because it is much different than what I’ve used to at home in Latvia. Italians are very friendly, expressive, easy going and family oriented. Personal relationships play a HUGE role in their culture. Their love for food is incredible, and it is more than just pizza or pasta – Italian cuisine is a celebration of flavors, history and life.
Ever since the first day I arrived in Italy, I have been feeling creatively charged. I often find myself wanting to take my sketchbook and just go out to draw or paint. To me, the fact that many important Italian artists, such as Leonardo da Vinci or Michelangelo, lived and worked here is simply mind-blowing.
There are so many mountaintops I want to reach and scenic streets I want to explore for hours. I want to get lost on Italy’s sun-kissed Mediterranean Coast, which is a home to some of the most beautiful landscapes and immerse myself in nature. I know there are a lot of stories out there waiting for me to live them, and I couldn’t be more excited.
Petra:
As I live in Croatia, Italy’s sea neighbour, Italian Culture has always been interesting and close to me. Project M.A.R.E. gave me the opportunity to discover it more thoroughly. When it comes to music, there is no day without hearing a couple of songs of Lucio Battisti, or a week without seeing a new but old, Italian movie. Enjoying our terrace, all together, we have watched Mediterraneo, a film that gives you a taste of Italian humour, which you can experience in everyday life if you try to get involved into “chiacchiere” (a chat) with locals. During our 2 months here, I have tried and enjoyed Italian cuisine a lot. Parmigiana made with eggplants, tomato sauce and mozzarella di buffalo is my all-time favourite! Seven months to go and still so much left to discover. Colder months, I have saved for discovering museums and other historical places!
Judit:
Since, I am from Hungary, moving to Massa Lubrense meant a huge change in my lifestyle. I appreciate the chance to be close to the sea every day and I am happy to be able to explore Italy and its culture by both sea and land. Watching stars at night, sleeping on the terrace, looking at the boats in the port while having breakfast and observing the sunsets at the end of the day became part of my daily life. Working in Ieranto bay is like magic. I am closer to nature than ever before and I really feel what we do is useful. This experience creates a new universe for me, exploring species I have never seen before and getting to know more about the beauties of the world, while working in the field of sustainability. It is the best possible combination. What else can be added? Nice people and gastronomy, of course! Italian cultural nights helped me submerge in local culture and cooking traditional food together was so much fun!
Oussama:
I always loved nature, especially the sea… that is why I wanted to be part of project M.A.R.E., so I can connect more with nature and sea. First, when I came to Italy, I found myself surrounded by nature and that was helpful to rebuild the relationship with it once again, because the city lifestyle is very different…. Project M.A.R.E. gives you the chance to discover the deepest secrets of the sea, the species and so many other things about the sea… It also gives you the chance to discover the Italian culture starting with the food, continuing through the Italian literature to the art, which is my favourite. In my very first month, I have learned something really cool from our mentor “Gianna”, which is, enjoy doing nothing called “dolce far niente”… this was just a small insight into the “PROJECT M.AR.E.”…
Updated on August 28, 2020
The Bay of Ieranto in July 2020: A Review of the Month
As some of you may already know, the M.A.R.E. 2020 project started late this year, in July to be exact. As soon we, volunteers, arrived in Italy, we immediately rushed to the magnificent Bay of Ieranto and started focusing on project activities because, in this paradise, every minute counts. The same as every year, we started to inform people about the marine park, monitor the boat activity at the bay, take notes about human activity or unusual events. Furthermore, we collect garbage from the sea and the beach, and we try to make sure that wildlife does not come into contact with it. Due to pandemic that we are facing this year, we are making an extra effort to promote the health and safety measures between visitors of the Marine Park of Punta Campanella.
We are structuring our work based on a management model that focuses on three major actions: monitoring, conservation and spreading awareness. The Bay of Ieranto is a place of general preservation, meaning that our main goal is to protect and keep it alive, while preventing this beautiful place from destruction. Eco friendly activities in the bay, like the ones that you can see listed in the image down below (Figure 3), are always welcomed.
Our aim is to protect the ecosystem of the park, especially Posidonia oceanica, which is a seagrass species, that can be found only in the Mediterranean Sea. It provides food and habitat for other marine organisms and enriches biodiversity. Unfortunately, this species is declining at an alarming rate due to disturbing human activities, such as anchoring.
That being said, let’s see what data, that we collected for 21 working days, tells us about the human activity at the bay! Because of pandemic, the number of people at the bay can’t be greater than 107. With most of them coming to the bay by foot, we had an important task to not only inform everyone about the rational use of face masks and remind of the social distance, but also to make sure that we didn’t exceed the maximum number of people allowed at the bay.
In total, we registered 382 boats entering the Bay of Ieranto from which 34% (130 boats) were authorized and 66% (252) were unauthorized (Figure 6).
We counted 866 people entering the bay on unauthorized boats, from which 136 (15,7%) already knew about the Marine Protected Area. Regardless, we were able to inform around 66,5% of visitors about the area and let them know how they are harming the marine life by entering the bay by boats.
Why couldn’t we reach all of them? Well, in some cases, we believe that some people, already knowing about the rules of the Marine Park, entered the bay just to give a quick look and then left, not giving us time to approach them. Indeed, we understand that this charming bay can have a magical effect on people.
In other occasions, we experienced that some visitors, who entered the bay by authorized boats, helped us by informing about unauthorized ones. In some cases, visitors on unauthorized boats, who already were being approached by the M.A.R.E. team, helped us sending away others entering the bay. We really appreciate their support!
Despite our efforts to protect this wonderful place, there were a few situations, seven to be exact, where people, entering the bay on unauthorised boats, didn’t leave when it was requested. Also, 11 unauthorized boats managed to reach the beach (2,88%), 17 boats anchored (4,45%) and people, coming in three different boats, were able to fish (0,79%). On average, in the month of July, there were 18 boats a day, from which six were authorized and 12 unauthorized. The overall average of time of permanence of the boats without permission on the bay in these 21 days of work was 6 minutes. Finally, in the month of July we counted 4050 visitors entering the bay of Ieranto during our working hours, from which 1233 came from the seaside and 2817 by the path. The majority were Italians.
From this data we, without any doubts, can conclude that the presence of the M.A.R.E. team plays a big role on the preservation of the biodiversity of the bay. It doesn’t matter if you come from the sea or land, the Marine Protected Area of Punta Campanella invites you to come and see the most beautiful sights and its hidden biodiversity in an eco-compatible way. So, come and join us – we have some special activities waiting for you!
Ci vediamo!
Updated on August 15, 2020
Loggerhead Turtles of the Mediterranean Sea: 25 Nests in Campania, A Surprising Discovery from the Nest Monitoring of this Year
Let’s talk about turtles! Loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) are listed as vulnerable on IUCN Red List of Threatened species. The current population of Loggerhead turtles is decreasing and there is still a significant lack of information regarding them and other marine turtles (Casale and Tucker, 2017). They are facing many threats such as coastal development, bycatch from fishing, climate change, pollution, human intrusions and disturbance, and direct utilisation of turtles or their eggs for human consumption (Wallace et al., 2011). Increased temperatures due to climate change can affect turtle populations in a way that if the temperature of the sand is higher than usual, only female turtles will be developing, which is putting the risk on the sex ratio, hence to the successful reproduction of the population. Turtle nesting is a complex process and many little details, such as modest temperature fluctuation, salinity and humidity levels, appropriate off-shore and on-shore conditions make an immense difference (Miller et al., 2003). Enhanced efforts for turtle assessment should be a priority in the future to tackle the threats they are facing.
It is extremely important to monitor turtle nests due to increased artificial lighting, that hatchlings can mistake with the moon, which they use to find the direction to the sea. Furthermore, increased human activity on the beaches, unawareness and inattentiveness can lead to a decrease in the success of turtles laying a nest and for hatchlings getting back to the sea. Only 1 of 1000 of hatchlings will reach sexual maturity and return to their nesting grounds, which they were born at. The nesting period in the Mediterranean is from the beginning of June till the middle of August. In general, female turtles deposit on an average of 100 eggs and the incubation period lasts in the period of 50 to 60 days (Jribi et al., 2006).
The season of 2020 is a SPECIAL year in Campania region of Italy because it is the first one to have a big effort of monitoring activities with the help of the network, that allowed to discover 25 nests, which is much more than expected! The maximum since 2002 has been 13 nests in 2016. Below you can see the nest range map with numbers of the nests found in each location (Figure 2), as well as the graph of the number of nests per time interval and the number of nests per location (Figure 3).
Our M.A.R.E. team is able to join the Campania Network of Sea Turtles with following partners: ARDEA, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn (SZAD), Punta Campanella Marine Protected Area, NATURart, Museo del Mare di Pioppi, Ente Nazionale Protezione Animali (ENPA) for the nest monitoring in July, August and September 2020. Until now, for five days, starting with 20th of June, two of our volunteers and one supervisor joined turtle nest monitoring in Cilento. During our stay there, we and partners (SZAD and ENPA) discovered four new turtle nests, and professionals from SZAD translocated three of the nests because they were too close to the shore. We could see the process and it was informative and truly mesmerising! For the new nests, we made borders and put signs (see Figure 4). Whilst transferring eggs, they were carefully placed by a qualified professional into a bucket with sand, and then in the same order put into a new nest, which was carefully chosen and made with the same depth as the previous one.
A big THANK YOU to our partners for allowing us to take a part in turtle nest monitoring and have a hands-on experience. It is an honour for us to contribute towards such an important cause, to spread awareness and to find out more about Loggerhead turtles in the Mediterranean! We appreciate your valuable work!
Our M.A.R.E. team will continue to visit Cilento in August and September, and hopefully will witness the hatchlings and ensure their safe journey to the vast sea! Stay tuned for more blog posts and updates, and don’t forget to keep an eye on our and partner social media platforms as well! If you wish to find out more about Caretta caretta or sea turtles in general, check out our reference and extra material sections!
Always be mindful of the environment around you and the footprint you leave!
Ci vediamo a presto,
Team M.A.R.E.
Updated on August 19, 2022
M.A.R.E. 2020
This is us: meet the team of Project M.A.R.E. 2020
Here it comes! Our long-awaited self-introductions are finally here! We are still patiently waiting for the last Tunisian volunteer to arrive. There has been so much happening behind the scenes and we can assure that he will be here very soon.
As you may have already noticed, this year is very different than others in every possible aspect. Due to pandemic, we are forced to make many changes in our work environment and come up with new effective strategies to achieve the project goals. We may not be physically all together (yet), but that doesn’t mean we can’t make things happen. That said, we had to think outside the box, while making our group photo.
Without further ado, this is us!
ANA RAQUEL: Recently arrived from the beaches of the south of Portugal, here I am finally ready to discover all the hidden beauties and creatures living in this wonderful Marine Protected Area of Punta Campanella. First impressions? Beautiful sights, a very friendly and motivated team and highly supportive mentors. Such a great opportunity to get in touch with the knowledge that I’ve once learned seated in the classrooms of my university but this time being able to see it in real screen. Biology is really fascinating I can tell… and sustainability is increasingly more needed. I just can’t wait to speak the Italian language! I’m very excited! What a tsunami of fresh air after this unusual quarantine at home!
AKREM: Ciao a tutti! I’m Akrem from Tunisia. I’ve always been curious and fascinated about nature and science. One day I took a dive at sea and a switch flipped in me: I fell in love with the underwater world. It was a revelation that at each dive, I’m able to discover new things. An ocean full of discovery and knowledge that constantly needs conservation and further study. And from there I started a career as a marine ecologist. Volunteering in project MARE wasn’t planned but it’s a terrific opportunity to find new challenges on a daily basis: culturally and mentally.
PETRA: I am a Croatian biologist, passionate about nature and Balkan region! My big wish was to come to live in Italy meanwhile doing something good for nature with other motivated young internationals. Besides that, I like photography and cooking and Italy is an inspiring place for capturing ”vita quotidiana” with my camera and learn new recipes! During the project M.A.R.E, I want to work more with educating people about the negative consequences of single-use plastic items and trash that ends up in our seas!
GONZALO: Hello, i am Gonzalo one of the 8 volunteers of the Project M.A.R.E 2020, i´m a spanish boy, more specifically from Madrid, who has studied Political Science. About me i can say that i have many hobbies such as travelling, movies, sports, Reading, bothering people talking about politics (my favorite) etc. I hope that al lof you who are reading this are doing very well and i will be a pleasure for me to share with you all the experiences and impressions of this wonderfull Project.
A big hug (respecting the safety distance) for everyone.
Gonzalo
ARINA: Ciao! I am Arina from Latvia, with a bachelor’s degree in Wildlife Biology. Passionate and fascinated about everything on our Planet Earth! Always open to learning new languages and things. As a hobby, I like to draw, snorkel, dive, read philosophical books, take pictures and think about existential questions. In the future, I am aspiring to become a better version of myself and willing to make a significant contribution to wildlife conservation and animal welfare worldwide. Let’s always be mindful of our surroundings and of the footprint we leave! See you around!
OUSSAMA: My name is Oussama Haouioui, also called Migaux. The small country on the top of Africa is my homeland, which is Tunisia. I’m in my early twenties, I started as a photographer and now I’m a cinematographer. I’ve made short, meaningful movies, also pictures. I like watching the sun go down as much as watching it rise. It always inspires me. I’m a sea lover, that’s why 30% of my pictures are about the sea. I have been doing voluntary work since I was 17 years old and I’m still excited as the first time as new volunteer. I’ve learned a lot of things that helped me managing my life, gave it special touches and let me enjoy the difficulties. When people ask me about my future plans, I just say, “glory days are coming”. And as we know there are lot of things to do and see, let’s just be patient and ready.
JUDIT: Ciao! I am Judit from Hungary. I am considered to be a “traveler”, “the lucky one” and a “creative human being” most of the time. In the past few years, I have lived in different parts of the world, studying, working and volunteering in a wide variety of fields. All journeys added a piece to who I am today, and I am grateful for all the experience. I have studied arts, American Studies and Communication & Media. I am passionate about animals, nature, sports and I would like to work on a more sustainable future.
KRISTIĀNS: One of my internship supervisors once called me a hopeless romantic and I’ve been rolling with it ever since. I am a self-taught Latvian artist, who gets inspired by nature, feels passionate about sustainability, loves an active lifestyle, traveling, exploring new cultures and staying up all night talking about life. I’ve always been good with expressing myself through writing, that’s why I got my bachelor’s degree in public relations and marketing. I’m striving to apply my knowledge and experience to enhance the public awareness of the environmental crisis the world is facing, because I strongly believe that communication is the bridge to a better understanding. Parliamo!
Updated on July 12, 2020
The Project M.A.R.E. 2020 has FINALLY started!
After 114 days of waiting, we have finally started the 8th edition of Project M.A.R.E.. FINALLY!!! We must admit the waiting process was hard, because the world was (and still is) experiencing the COVID-19 crisis and we couldn’t predict what will happen the following day. However, we kept our spirits high and started having online meetings regardless. Thanks to Domenico and volunteers from previous years, who were kind enough to devote their time to prepare us for a successful start of the project, we managed to familiarize ourselves with the goals and the mission of it. We were supporting and motivating each other as much as we could and going through these unfortunate events all together as one big family.
And who are the new volunteers, you wonder? Well, for that stay tuned for our personal introductions!
A prestissimo! Ciao!
