15 July 2019

From the notebook of a botanist (DBA team)

“Curiosity, a wonderful place, away from technology… during field surveys life is more authentic.

Surveying with other botanists is a great experience. One feels younger, smiles are more relaxed, and eyes sparkle with wonder, especially if you are in the Ponziane. During fieldwork, we botanists share same passion and interest, but also same questions and doubts. When with zoologists, instead, we also get some answers and add passion and curiosity for living species we do not know.

In Zannone, bird specialists from the Big Five project and botanists from the PonDerat team have walked together for paths, climbs, cliffs for three days. While one was searching for or surveying birds, another was sampling the Mediterranean maquis, or gathering ferns of conservation value.

For a botanist like me, passion for plants comes first. However, to look an incubating shearwater into the eyes caused me an unforgettable emotion, which brought me back to the wonders of childhood.