Photo FRMB

This Saturday, 6 October, from 10.00 am to 7.00 pm, the Fundació Ramon Martí i Bonet against blindness, is organising its fifth family charity day at the Barcelona Zoo.

The reason for organising this day is to raise public awareness on the importance of receiving ophthalmological assistance to ensure their good visual health, and also to raise funds for the project ‘Sight for Everybody in Catalonia’, whose purpose is to promote and provide visual health to people who are under the threshold of social and financial wellbeing.

Eye disease or poor eyesight that is not detected in time can have extremely negative consequences for children, like school failure that could have been avoided, and the consequent difficulty in accessing higher studies or occupational training that could match each of their skills and limitations.

To participate in this charity day, just buy your ticket at Zoo ticket offices at half price for adults and free for children under 12 if you buy some charity eyeglasses or a charity children’s story for €5.*

We’ll be waiting for you at the Zoo, with so many things to experience and see!

Besides this project in Catalonia, the Ramon Martí i Bonet Foundation has developed  projects in other places around the world, which you can also help with.

 * Up to 2.000 charity tickets.

Photos Mosquito Alert CC-BY

Did you know that the tiger mosquito starts to appear in the spring and can remain active until the end of November? In the city of Barcelona, this invasive insect arrived more than 10 years ago and, since then, it has not been an easy task to control its populations. The Barcelona Public Health Agency (ASPB in Catalan) has identified 60 risk areas throughout the city in which water tends to accrue, making them sites where the tiger mosquito breeds.   

The tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus) is an invasive insect and carrier of diseases like dengue fever, Zika and Chikungunya, and they also have a very short lifecycle. They tend to breed in urban locations where there is standing water that are normally hidden. Thus, one aim of the Mosquito Alert citizen science project is to involve residents in fighting the tiger mosquito, joining forces with scientists and public health managers to learn more about this species and prevent them from proliferating.

Participate with the Mosquito Alert app and make a contribution to science:

1. Download the Mosquito Alert app:  you can find it on Google Play and App Store.
2. Trap the mosquito and identify it: if you see a mosquito and suspect it is a tiger, look closely at its appearance. If it is black, with white stripes on its body and legs and a single stripe on its head, it is indeed a tiger mosquito.
3. Take a photo of it and send it via the app: try to ensure that the entire body is visible, especially the stripe on the head. The expert team will identify the mosquito type in the photo and will send you a message notifying you of the type or if they need more information.
4. Look at the map: the Mosquito Alert observation map details all alerts made by residents with the app. 

All photos submitted are published on the Mosquito Alert observation map. This interactive map contains all observation points since 2014 until today, and it is possible to use a time filter and search by municipalities. The map also shows breeding sites, which people can also send in via the app. Thanks to this collaborative map, professionals and scientists can use the data to improve strategies to control the tiger mosquito.

The Mosquito Alert citizen science project is coordinated by the CREAF, CEAB-CSIC and ICREA research centres, with the support of “la Caixa” social works and co-funding from Dipsalut (public health institute of the Girona Provincial Council). The Zoo collaborates on this project with an information campaign in the framework of the PICAT project (Integral Platform for the Control of Arboviruses in Catalonia), project SLT002/16/00466, financed by the Catalan Autonomous Government – Department of Health and led by the Vall d’Hebron Research Institute.

Download the Mosquito Alert information brochure.

And some tricks that may help you:

3 things you need to know to recognize the tiger mosquito.

How to take the best pictures of the mosquito.

Painted lady (Vanessa cardui)

After holding the meetings to assess the projects submitted to the call for proposals for 2018 for the Snowflake grant (14th edition), the Antoni Jonch grant (6th edition) and the PRIC Research & Conservation grants (10th edition), these grants were awarded:

PRIC GRANTS (10th edition)

Total financial endowment:    € 62,000

Of the 35 proposals submitted to the call for 2018 Research & Conservation grants, and after the assessment conducted by members of the jury to evaluate the grants and financial aids to develop research and conservation projects, in accordance with the criteria established in the rules for this call, this year a total of nine grants were awarded to these projects:

1. Great Ape Reintroduction Synthesis

         Gregg Tully, PASA (Pan African Sanctuary Alliance)

2. Ecology of movement of the yellow-headed gull (Larus michahellis) and its relationship to the spreading of pathogens in urban areas

         Tomàs Montalvo, Barcelona Public Health Agency

3. Jaibul Island: establishment of a biological field station and conducting of activities for research and protection of its biodiversity

         Rosa Garriga, Friends of Tacugama Association

4. Mediterranean butterflies meet the lions: an African monitoring network to study and preserve trans-Saharan migrations

         Gerard Talavera, IBE (Institut de Biologia Evolutiva) - CSIC

5. Effect of poaching and the illegal meat trade of wild animals on the primate populations in Uganda

         Ignasi Marco, Autonomous University of Barcelona

6. Study of the presence of diclofenac and other anti-inflammatory drugs in blood samples of the Griffon vulture (Gyps fulvus)

         gnasi Marco, Autonomous University of Barcelona

7. Action plan for the recovery of the European polecat (Mustela putorius) in Catalonia

         Salvador Salvador, University of Girona

8. Spatial ecology of the blue shark Prionace glauca in the Western Mediterranean: acquisition of new knowledge via the use of sensors, trophic markers and ecosystemic models

         Joan Navarro, ICM (Institut de Ciències del Mar) - CSIC

9. Satellite tracking of movement patterns of the family groups of chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra rupicapra)

          Oscar Cabezón, Autonomous University of Barcelona

SNOWFLAKE GRANT (14th edition)

Financial endowment: € 9,000

Of the nine applications submitted to the call for proposals for the 2018 Snowflake grant, and after the assessment conducted by members of the jury in accordance with the criteria established in the rules for this call, this year the project selected for the grant this year was:

Urgent conservation surveys for the endangered Ashy red colobus monkey (Piliocolobus tephrosceles) in unprotected areas of Tanzania

Julius KIbaja, University of Oslo

ANTONI JONCH GRANT (6th edition)

Financial endowment: € 6,000

Of the eight applications submitted to the call for proposals for the 2018 Antoni Jonch grant, and after the assessment conducted by members of the jury in accordance with the criteria established in the rules for this call, this year the project selected for the grant this year was:

The populations of wildcats (Felis silvestris) in Catalonia: effect of habitat and the presence of domestic cats on their conservation status

Ferran Sayol, Naturalists Group of Osona

Our congratulations to all winners and participants!