CRIA – Carbono da Ria starts taking enrollments this weekend
A groundbreaking new initiative aimed at empowering residents of the 12 parishes of Ria Formosa starts taking enrollments this weekend.
The CRIA – Carbono da Ria project aims to show locals just how essential the Ria is in terms of its acting as a carbon sink (an area that absorbs more carbon than it releases into the atmosphere).
As Cláudia Sil, vice-president of the BlueZ C institute promoting CRIA in partnership with the Ria Formosa Natural Park Co-Management Commission, and the Municipality of Loulé explains, “this is something totally new. We want to know how much carbon is stored in the sediments” (literally, the mud of Ria Formosa). “We know the Ria has been absorbing for thousands of years. That is why it is so important to preserve all the sea grasses and vegetation, as they are vital to the process”.
Thus the plan to encourage residents of 12 parishes (see list to come) to get ‘down in the mud’, and ‘become scientists for a day’.
The way CRIA works is that volunteers first take part in a 45-minute training session (on the importance of the Ria’s sediments in the fight against climate change), after which they will receive a silt sampling kit with a microfibre towel (made from recycled PET bottles) and a permanent marker.
They will then be ‘released to become scientists’: collecting their silt samples, and delivering them back to BlueZ C, which will then take them off to the laboratory at the University of the Algarve.
The intention is that up to 500 samples will thus be able to give a much more accurate picture of the blue carbon stored in the Algarve’s iconic Ria.
Beyond receiving a diploma for taking part in CRIA, the first 250 participants will find their names automatically entered into a draw for a Science Scholarship, corresponding to one year’s tuition fees at the University of the Algarve.
Volunteers must be over the age of 16, and enrollments can be made by filling out an online form, available by emailing contact@bluezc.org or via Whatsapp (960099925).
Applicants will need to state their name and age, and that they want to attend a session in whichever parish they live in (see below):
February
17th at 6pm: Almancil – Pavilhão Multiusos ’25 de Abril’
20th at 4pm: Faro – Região de Turismo do Algarve
22nd at 10am: Cacela Velha – Casa do Pároco
23rd at 10am: Montenegro – Centro Náutico da Praia de Faro
25th at 2.30pm: Faro – (Culatra) Escola EB1 da Ilha da Culatra
26th at 9.30am: Tavira – Biblioteca Municipal Álvaro de Campos
MARCH
1st at 10am: Olhão – Biblioteca Municipal José Mariano Gago
1st at 11.30am: Olhão – Biblioteca Municipal José Mariano Gago
6th at 5.30pm: Faro – Biblioteca Municipal António Ramos Rosa
In case readers are unsure whether they qualify to take part, the initiative is open to residents of the parishes of: Almancil, Montenegro, União das freguesias de Faro (Sé & São Pedro), Pechão, Olhão, Quelfes, União das Freguesias de Moncarapacho & Fuseta, União de Freguesias de Luz de Tavira & Santo Estevão, Santa Luzia, Tavira, União das Freguesias de Conceição & Cabanas de Tavira, União das Freguesias de Tavira (Santa Maria & Santiago) and Vila Nova de Cacela.
