As
much as I would like to see all of Colombia from North to South and East to
West, explore the coastline and waters of the Pacific and the Caribbean, deep
jungles of Amazonia, mountains of Sierra Nevada and much more I am here to
work. In June I was successfully contracted as a visiting scientist by
University of Manchester, UK for a half job half internship in the Colombian
Caribbean.
I
am participating in the international project of Newton-Caldas Foundation
“Improving local management of tropical coastal resources in the face of
climate change for economic wellbeing of local and vulnerable communities"
which has been initiated with the support of coordinators Dr. Lina Barrios,
Prof. Richard Preziosi of University of Manchester, Dr. Gabriel Navas of
Universidad de Cartagena and other Colombian and Uk institutes.
I
am based at University of Cartagena and for the following six months me and
other 6 interns (4 Colombians, one from Germany and one from England) will be
working on the socio-ecological project on the sustainable use of marine and
freswater resources with the local fishing communities. This Project which is
refered to as the "Fishing for Life" (Pescando para la vida) focuses
on the coastal biodiversity, ecosystem services and resources management for
sustainable development. It’s a research based programme that incorporates
training and management and assists to communities of artisanal fishermen and
aquaculturists inland around Canal del Dique (about 20 communities involved)
and in the Afro-Colombian fishing communities around Cartagena Bay and
surroundings.
During
the first two weeks we completed two different workshops organized by
scientists from University of Manchester, Stirling University, Heriot-Watt
University, CEFAS and University of Cartagena, and CEINER, FUPAC and
Granja Lismar from the side of Colombia. Me and my colleagues (just for the
information we are all girls...:) supported the activities on the workshop both
in the Canal del Dique (freshwater) and Islas del Rosario (marine). It was
certainly a unique experience and very productive meetings which resulted in 6
different project (with social, biological and economical aspects and benefits
for the local communities). I will be personally supporting and supervising the
proposal on the project of the restoration and conservation of the mangroves/corales/seagrass
ecosystems on the Isla Fuerte.
Canal del Dique:
We
did our first workshop at the "finca" Granja Lismar (very nice little
farm, with aquaculture facilities, ponds with "bocachicos" and
"tilapias", aquaponics with ornamental fish, lots of parrots
and turtles) with different fishing communities from around Canal del Dique.
It's important to mention the participation and high interest also from the
side of women who depend on the fishing. How was it? Well, very enjoyable but
also exhausting. Three intensive days of work in the extreme heat with
great amount of mosquitoes, sometimes with no power due to evening
storms. The guys from the fishing communities came very well prepared,
with great interest to learn and also share the knowledge and their experience
with us. They were introduced to different scientific topics and issues in the
field of biodiversity, climate change, fisheries, aquaculture (fish
reproduction) human impacts, ecosystem services tragedy of commons,
sustainability, effects of El Nino and La Nina (both influencing Colombia in a
significant way). During different group activities we received the information
about the species they are catching, the methods, some of the biological
information, we learnt about the concerns and problems of these communities. I
really enjoyed this place although we were nowhere near the ocean but on the
farm with lots of trees and green spots. I had zero signal and no internet but
I didn't miss it at all as I could be fully present at that moment with no
disturbances. There was literally no free time but during the breaks I walked
around the place looking at those beautiful big dragoonflies that were flying
around us all day long, searched for the spiders that looked like tarantulas or
I talked to two little boys I quickly became friends with :)
 |
| With my new friend Jesus |
 |
| With my group... |
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We
did our first workshop at the "finca" Granja Lismar (very nice little
farm, with aquaculture facilities, ponds with "bocachicos" and
"tilapias", aquaponics with ornamental fish, lots of parrots
and turtles) with different fishing communities from around Canal del Dique.
It's important to mention the participation and high interest also from the
side of women who depend on the fishing. How was it? Well, very enjoyable but
also exhausting. Three intensive days of work in the extreme heat with
great amount of mosquitoes, sometimes with no power due to evening
storms. The guys from the fishing communities came very well prepared,
with great interest to learn and also share the knowledge and their experience
with us. They were introduced to different scientific topics and issues in the
field of biodiversity, climate change, fisheries, aquaculture (fish
reproduction) human impacts, ecosystem services tragedy of commons,
sustainability, effects of El Nino and La Nina (both influencing Colombia in a
significant way). During different group activities we received the information
about the species they are catching, the methods, some of the biological
information, we learnt about the concerns and problems of these communities. I
really enjoyed this place although we were nowhere near the ocean but on the
farm with lots of trees and green spots. I had zero signal and no internet but
I didn't miss it at all as I could be fully present at that moment with no
disturbances. There was literally no free time but during the breaks I walked
around the place looking at those beautiful big dragoonflies that were flying
around us all day long, searched for the spiders that looked like tarantulas or
I talked to two little boys I quickly became friends with :) 
