Project M.A.R.E.

The wonders of the Bay

Ieranto is not just kayaking. Sometimes we change the surface of the water to go deeper and discover some wonders that usually we don’t see.

When we do guided snorkeling tours, we already know what we are going to show, where are the most important and beautiful things, it’s (almost) everything predetermined. But… we want to know more, to discover more, to show more and it was here, when and where our new adventure starts.

During some days, part of our volunteers went deeper to explore another face of Ieranto. Equipped with mask, snorkel, fins and a photographic camera, we went to the water to study the beauties of the bay, the ones that usually people don’t see. There were 4 intensive days, plus extra hours during summer work, in a total of more than 12h, almost done just in one small part of the bay. It was an intensive exploration, going into every holes that we could find, searching from big to very small living creatures and finding amazing things that we are going to share with you.

But first, we have to tell you our most beautiful day. It was 29th of October and the meteorological conditions were amazing. As the summer work in Ieranto was finished, it was easier to go there by kayak. After 1h of kayaking we arrived to an amazing natural landscape with a flat and emerald blue sea, without boats, without people, just occupied by wildlife – all seagulls were in their sea, enjoying this calm place.

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It was time to enter into the cold water and it was when everything happen! Maybe because the sea was really calm, we saw some creatures that usually weren’t seen there and everytime that we looked to the side, we discovered another one. Besides that, we saw them in a place where all the people could have seen. Where were they during the summer? We are talking about this small gastropods that a lot of people think they are nudibranchs.

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This enthusiasm kept us warm and let us keep searching during 3:30h.

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Even without battery on the camera, we still founding some amazing organisms, for the first time, which told us that we should come back in the day after. We went, and yes, we found the creatures that we hope to find, in the same places, as this little crab:

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With this work, together with others done in previous years, we could identify more than 200 species (algae, invertebrates and fishes) of which near 10 are endangered. Soon we are going to share more precise information about each specie that we found. And we hope that we can show to you these amazing creatures in the next summer with our guided tours.

Now, we know that we can show more than usual, we just have to search in different places.

Looking for 2 male volunteers (no matter which nationality, but European or surrounding countries) from March to December 2020 to participate to the 8th edition of project M.A.R.E.

Here we are with a new vacancy for 2 people from different countries to take part to a big project made of 8 volunteers in total (6 of them have been already selected! we have 4 females and 2 males and we wpould like to have balance of genders within the team). M.A.R.E. family is made 45 volunteers from 10 different countries that have reached the project during hte last 7 years of experiences, and we would like to welcome more and more people!!

Background Info

Project MARE is a unique experience in collaboration with PUNTA CAMPANELLA Marine Protected Area, to support marine conservation programs, made of initiatives to reduce human impacts on natural resources.

Volunteers will work to spread awareness about the richness of marine ecosystems, to promote ecotourism, to stop anchoring and pollution, to cleanup beaches and the sea, working side by side with operators of the Marine Protected Area and many local organizations that follow the same path of sustainable development.

During the last 7 years of activities (from 2013 until today) volunteers have participated to many local initiatives, international meetings and conferences, and they have achieved many results in terms of support to the Park and personal training.

This life-changing experience has a powerful input to make people understand what’s the interaction between humans and ecological system, and this helps a lot to understand the direction to take along our lives.

Site Info

Punta Campanella MPA is the most natural site of the famous Sorrento Peninsula, hosting mountains that fall into the sea. Due to its location in Naples region, it is characterized to be a preferred destination for luxury and mass tourism where the majority of beaches have private access. But the Park is also protecting natural paces like Ieranto bay or Crapolla Cove, where there are signs of old civilization that make these natural places still more fascinating and mysterious.

The continuous exploitation of this coastal area led to a need of reinforcement in marine conservancy and the Marine Protect Area (MPA) Punta Campanella was created in 1997. Due to the difficult access by land and its transparent sheltered waters, this area is the perfect spot for boats and yachts to stop and anchor during holiday periods. This constitutes a big threat for marine life, especially Posidonia oceanica and hard substrates communities (made of encrusting sponges and algae – the so called coralligenous community).

Since 1997 the MPA is carrying out many summer initiatives to reduce the impact of mass tourism (between June and September) and let people enjoy the Park in a sustainable way: monitoring, ecotourism and conservation are the key words to have a balances usage of marine resources, and volunteers have a special task to help these operations.

Position offered

We are looking for 2 volunteers, no matter which nationalities they are, but we would like to have 2 more males to complete the team owith 4 females and 4 males. At the moment we have :

2 volunteers from TUNISIA

1 volunteer from LATVIA

2 volunteers from PORTUGAL

1 volunteer from CROATIA (found)

We are looking for people that is able to work with different levels of organization:

• M.A.R.E. team, made of 8 volunteers from different countries, cultures, background + a coordinator + a mentor
• Park team, made of biologists, educators, mariners, divers, parkguards
• Networking with local organisations (Foundations, Associations, Parks, People) that work for the same topics

Volunteers should be open-minded, curious, tolerant with positive attitude and willing to learn. We want to host people with special interest and love for nature, ocean, marine conservation, education, outdoor activities, to involve in a wonderful dream made in an international environment.

Duties:

Volunteers will support the park initiatives with a 30hours/week commitment (6h/day). They will enjoy 2 Weekly free days (not weekend free days during summertime). They will also enjoy 2 monthly free days, to travel across this wonderful country, or just to relax. The work will be done at office (50%) and on the field (50%).

1^st period: TRAINING and ORIENTEERING – After a training period of 3 months (orienteering, Italian language, marine resources, outdoor activities, active communication, park rules, marine conservation), volunteers will jump in the core of summer period.

2^nd period: INTO THE BLUE – Summer time will be a big mess of non-stop engagement in marine activities, during which everybody will be following a different schedule with different free days, to be able to cover all the week. It’s the most intense period and when it will finish, you’ll miss it a lot!

3^rd period: MATURATION – During October, November and December volunteers will slow down activities, and they’ll concentrate more on the evaluation of everything that have been done along summertime. They’ll present the work in many different meetings, from the schools to the conferences, from the local environment to the international meetings.

WORKING INFO

Volunteers will be involved in several activities listed below. They are asked to take part to these initiatives with a positive mood, with active collaboration, using English and Italian languages:

Marine Conservation – to reduce human impacts on nature through: stopping illegal activities, make people aware of the protected marine resources of the Park

Environmental Monitoring – to collect information about abiotic, biotic and human factors in the area of the park

Info & Awareness – to educate people about park rules and threats to marine resources

Outdoor Adventures – to meet nature face to face, and enjoy its power and energy

Beach and sea cleanup – to slow down one of the biggest impacts we have on our oceans

Intercultural Dialogue – to learn about different cultures, tolerance and diversity

Ecotourism Promotion – to spread the issues of open doors to ecocompatible interactions between humans and nature

Support from the project

The project is part of EUROPEAN SOLIDARITY CORPS within the ERASMUS+ program, and it is financed by the Italian National Agency. Thanks to the these funds we can provide to volunteers:

1. Round trip – to come to Massa Lubrense at the beginning of the project, and to return back to the hometown;
2. Accomodation – a shared flat with 7 more people in one of the villages of Massa Lubrense
3. Food Expenses – an amount of 150€ per month is guaranteed to volunteer to cover food expenses
4. Pocket Money – an amount of 150€ per month is guaranteed to volunteers for extra expenses
5. Training – an intensive course of Italian language is provided by the project
6. Orienteering – the first step of the project is to become a local person, trying to orienteer in the town of Massa Lubrense, understanding also the geography of the Peninsula and the province of Naples, in order to be able to leave in a new place.
7. Mentoring – volunteers will have weekly meeting with a mentor to analyze the training process and the problems that volunteers during the working time and the daily life.

If you are interested in this project, you are WELCOME to M.A.R.E. world!!

Check out our fb page and our blog to better understand who we are!

HOW TO APPLY: send a mail to evs.campanella@hotmail.com with your Curriculum VItae and Motivation Letter.

DEADLINE: 21nd of february 2020

A Sea to Explore is back to Schools

After the Summer edition, it’s time to back to school, but DON’T WORRY, not everything is so sad and boring because Project M.A.R.E. is also going to school to rock it and make students learn and be aware about the marine conservation, following the non formal education format doing outdoor and indoor activities.

BUT WE LOVE OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES THE MOST!!!!

If you wanna know better about our small project click HERE!

The first day we wanted to get to know each other and introduced the whole thematic for the next 6 weeks.

Of course we invited them to our restaurant “Rifiuti di Mare” under the sea, where it’s easy find some plastic and other kind of litter in our most famous dishes, the water to drink is a bit polluted and we have problems with the temperature and some invasive customers that bothers you while you are eating or takes your food… Maybe there are persons who can help the restaurant became a good place to eat. (VOLUNTEERS!!)

And why we understand from the table of impacts…? Which are the major 5 impacts in the ocean…? Invasive species, habitat destruction, marine litter, overfishing and climate change….

That’s day impact was: Climate Change:

The term climate change indicates the set of changes in the earth’s climate that have been occurring since the mid-20th century due to human activities. The most visible effect, is the increase in temperature, which has grown by 0.8 ° C in the last 150 years and could reach 3-5 ° C in 2100. 

And…what are the CONSEQUENCES??

Ocean warming: Since 1880, the global annual temperature of the earth and oceans has risen to an average of 0.07 °C, per decade. 2019 is a candidate to be among the three hottest years ever, together with 2016 and 2017.

Melting Glaciers: Only in Italy, during the last 50 years we lost 30% of the glaciers. It is estimated that in about 30 or 40 years the Italian glaciers will have disappeared.

Sea level rise: As the glaciers melt, the sea level has risen. There are around 40 coastal areas in flood risk. Some cities like Naples and Venice, near the sea, are at risk of being submerged in 80 years, with a rise of 1,064 meters in Venice and 1,040 in Naples.

Ocean Acidification: In 250 years the pH has decreased 0.1 units (from 8.2 to 8.1) and it is expected that at the end of this century it will decrease more than 0.2 to 0.4 units. This decrease is associated with the acidification of water which, consequently, also reduces the availability of calcium carbonate. This element is too important for shells, molluscs, crustaceans and even coral. Thus, many species are at risk of survival.

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Coral Bleaching: In 2016, the Australian Coral Reef, suffered an unprecedented wave of “bleaching” due to a temporary increase in ocean temperature of about 4 degrees. This thermal stress caused bleaching in 90% of the reef corals and more than 20% death.

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Behavioural mutations and migrations of animal species: In all the oceans of the world and in all the different links of the food chain, there have been changes in marine life that are in line with climate change: Reproduction, feeding and migration.The marine species are moving towards the poles with a velocity of 72 Km each decade.

But, why??? which are the causes of this situation?

Human activities, from pollution to overpopulation are raising the temperature of the earth and fundamentally, changing the world around us. The main causes are because of the phenomenon noun ad the greenhouse effect. Gases in the atmosfere, such as (read the following list), let the sun light in, but keeps some of the heat from skipping, like the glass walls of a green house. The more greenhouse gases in the atmosfere, the more heat gets trap, strengthen the greenhouse effect and increasing the temperature of the earth.

• Carbon dioxide (CO2): Fossil fuel use is the primary source of CO2.  CO2 can also be emitted from direct human-induced impacts on forestry and other land use, such as through deforestation, land clearing for agriculture, and degradation of soils. Likewise, land can also remove CO2 from the atmosphere through reforestation, improvement of soils, and other activities.
• Methane (CH4): Agricultural activities, waste management, energy use, and biomass burning all contribute to CH4 emissions.
• Nitrous oxide (N2O): Agricultural activities, such as fertiliser use, are the primary source of N2O emissions. Fossil fuel combustion also generates N2O.
• Fluorinated gases (F-gases): Industrial processes, refrigeration, and the use of a variety of consumer products contribute to emissions of F-gases, which include hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), and sulfur hexafluoride (SF6).

Be aware of our next publications to see the amazing things we are doing together!

Turtle release in Cilento!

On October 4th we went to the beach of Ascea to participate in a turtle release.

These two turtles were found thanks to the awareness of the people on the beach. They saw the turtles were having problems and it was significant because both of the turtles had been entangled by a thick rope. The rope was around their neck and around their flippers. This is very dangerous because the turtles were not able to swim very well and also the rope was starting to cut into their flesh. Which is even more dangerous because at a certain point it can block the blood flow and they can lose the respective body part. These turtles were fortunate because they were found before this could happen.

The coast guard was informed and then also the zoological station of Portici.  And the turtles were captured and operated by a vet.

Why did the beach of Ascea was chosen to release them?

Because every year since 2015 turtle nests are found on this beach. This year there were 5 nests. The most nests nests since 2015. So this beach has seen many little turtles being born.

Fortunella has been staying with the Zoological station for more almost a year because she had a hard time recovering, on the other hand Pitor was found this summer in August near Marina di Camerota in the open sea. It was possible to rescue Pitor quick because there were people from H24 and Zoological station in the beach of Ascea for the turtle nest monitoring.

To know that Fortunella is adjusting well, after a long time spent in captivity and where is it going she has a GPS position tracker on her. Every two days it will make a connection with a satellite to send the path that the turtle has been taking. Fortunella was found in the gulf of Pozzuoli who knows maybe she will decide to turn back north closer to Naples, because turtles are a migrating species, they travel through all of the mediterranian sea.

At the end two of our volunteers had the opportunity to pick the turtle up and bring it closer to the sea, it was nice to see these beautiful creatures back in their natural habitat and in good health

What is important to remember that the turtles are not ours they are from the sea, and in the sea there is a lot of danger like ropes, nets and plastic.

How can you help?

The first thing is when you see a turtle with difficulties is to call the coast guard, but more importantly to reduce your ecological impact like:

• Recycling
• Avoiding use of plastic
• Having your own reusable water bottle

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Autumn in Ieranto: Classroom discovers underwater treasure

The autumn is already here but the work in Ieranto doesn’t stop. Even if we don’t have a lot of visitors as in the summer because the temperature is lower, the weather is still sunny and warm enough to give you amazing experience in and outside of the water. During the September and October, our project was host to the four groups of international high school students from Germany and Switzerland.

We had an opportunity to meet and work with the students and professors from four different high schools, gymnasiums, and share our knowledge and experience that we had as international volunteers and as guides through amazing biodiversity that we are protecting in Ieranto. 

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Our main goal was to represent to our guests colourful and rich marine life that we have in our park, how it can be protected through forming marine protected areas and why is important to do it through different interactive games and activities. 

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To understand what is biodiversity and what that means, we showed them through  the kayaking and snorkeling tours as well as interactive games on the land.

Activities on the water were more than well accepted by the students. Kayaking tours in the bay were pretty exciting for them and they had a great time together as a group. Snorkeling tours were such a pleasant surprise for me, because it was the first time that I was doing guided snorkeling tour. Amazing. They were full of questions and their thirst for information and explanations was really refreshing. I haven’t seen it for a long time ago. And I was more than happy to answer them and clear their doubts as well as sharing some fun facts about the organisms that we saw together. 

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When the part in the water was over, we started the interactive games that I was talking about in the beginning. The idea was to show them biodiversity from different perspectives, so we invented a guessing game to do that. In our infopoint, we have a lot of things that came with the sea so we use that objects, hiding them in the box with a space for the hands, for them to touch the items that we had. 

Sepia bone? Posidonia egagropila? Crab shell? Plastic garbage covered with barnacle shells? Hmmm… What do you think what they recognised?

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Also to show them what is a marine protected area, we invented another game to demonstrate that. Students were supposed to write all the activities that can be done on the sea on a sticky note. After they finish, we asked them to stick their activity on a board which was divided by the zone of the protection that we have in our park – Red(A), Yellow(B) and Green(C) zone of protection. As they stuck the answers on the board, we informed them about every activity and put in the right place on the board if the answers were wrong. Students had a great time and we also enjoyed. 

At the end of the day, everything was great, students enjoyed, professors were satisfied with our work, everybody learned something new and it was time to say goodbye. We wished them safe homecoming, hoping that in the future, maybe, some of them will return as Project Mare volunteers.

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Thanks to our volunteers for the great job!