The Regional Secretariat for the Environment and the Sea, through the Angra do Heroísmo “Ecoteca” (Environmental Awareness Raising Centre) promotes on Monday (February 1) the organisation of an environmental interpretation route on Terceira to the Ramsar Site of Planalto Central, including the Furnas do Enxofre and the Algar do Carvão. Two classes from the Padre Jerómino Emiliano de Andrade Secondary School have been invited to participate in this environmental route. Brief explanation about this site will be given at the session, allowing students to understand the importance of the preservation of these ecosystems and to become acquainted with their specificities and threats to their preservation. During the environmental route, students will have the opportunity to observe some of the local fauna and flora, with special emphasis to mires, thus understanding their importance in the insular hydrological cycle.

A workshop on “Characterisation of Mires and restoration techniques” (Caracterização de Turfeiras e técnicas de restauro) will be held at the University of the Azores – Angra do Heroísmo Campus from February 2 to 5. This workshop, which is organised by Applied Vegetal Ecology Study Group (GEVA) of the University of the Azores, counts upon the support the Regional Secretariat for the Environment and the Sea. During the four-day workshop, several teams will be under discussion, such as ecology and mires distribution in the Azore; identification, species and dynamics; importance and services in the Azorean landscape; restoration: techniques and principles and sharing of experiences: the Azores, Canada and the United Kingdom. The workshop will be attended by two foreign speakers, Line Rochefort and Alona Armstrong and by two national speakers, Carlos Pereira and João Farinha.