2023 report on the monitoring of birds in the Marimurtra Botanical Garden

The report made by the environmental consultant Pere Alzina i Bilbeny in 2023 on the ornithological monitoring in the Marimurtra Botanical Garden, in Blanes, presents detailed data on the species of birds that inhabit or visit this natural space. With an area of 16 hectares and a location between the Mediterranean Sea, forests and urban areas, the botanical garden is home to a rich variety of birds.

During the four visits carried out throughout the year 2023, a total of 35 species of birds were identified, with a special emphasis on nesting species. Several categories of nesting probability have been recorded, ranging from possible to certain, including species such as the Great-breasted Tern, the Black-breasted Tern and the Heron.

The document highlights the presence of 30 species that show signs of reproduction, among which the blue tern, the tudon and the crayfish stand out. The importance of protecting the environment and the species present is highlighted, with the aim of maintaining biological diversity.

In addition, Pere underlines Marimurtra’s involvement in environmentally sustainable practices, such as the cessation of the use of biocides and chemical fertilizers, and actions to promote ornithological fauna and their habitats.

This report contributes to a better understanding of the dynamics and richness of the ancestral fauna of the Marimurtra Botanical Garden, highlighting its importance as a space for conservation and scientific research in the context of international botanical gardens.

Download here the complete report on bird monitoring in the Marimurtra Botanical Garden 2023 by Pere Alzina.

Edicions de Marimurtra has published 2 new books

Francis Hallé in Marimurtra and the second volume of Marimurtra Collections on conifers and other gymnosperms are the titles published this 2024

Edicions de Marimurtra, the publishing label linked to the Carl Faust Foundation, owner and manager of the Marimurtra Botanic Garden, publishes the second volume of the botanical collection with a work dedicated to conifers and other gymnosperms. Conifers are trees with narrow or scale-shaped leaves, with rudimentary flowers, and with the particularity that their ovules and pollen are exposed, without any protection. Unlike angiosperms in which the seed is often covered inside the fruit.

Gymnosperms are plants that do not bear fruit, and reproduce through fertilization with the pollen of male specimens in the ovules of female specimens. Its seeds develop on the surface of scales or leaves, and are often modified to form cones.

This volume aims to show particularities of conifers and other gymnosperms, their importance in the environment and the species that we can see in the Marimurtra Botanical Garden. The intention is to highlight this group of woody plants, which, despite not being important in Mediterranean climates, are important because they make up the landscape and ethnobotany.

The book provides abundant photographic material with the aim of facilitating the location and identification of the conifers that can be seen during the visit to Marimurtra. But it has also had the graphic support of UrbanSketchers from Lloret de Mar, who, following a couple of visits to Marimurtra, created a series of illustrations that have given the book a very remarkable graphic and artistic added value.

The author of the work is Pere Fraga i Arguimbau, botanist and gardening specialist. Currently botanic curator and head of research at the Marimurtra Botanical Garden. For 22 years he has been working in the management of plant species in danger of extinction and in the control of their threats such as invasive exotic species EEI.

The other book is Francis Hallé in Marimurtra, a book that aims to allow the visitor to complement and remember his experience in the Garden with the help of some of the most outstanding specimens by the botanist illustrator Francis Hallé. For this reason, the magnificent illustrations of this work are also accompanied by the description of the types of arboreal architecture that is related to it, a location within the Garden and a comment that helps the visitor and explorer of Marimurtra to discover these forms and structures in the Botanical Garden in a fun and interesting way.

The authors of the book are Francis Hallé, a French botanist, ecologist and explorer born in 1938. He is known for his work in plant ecology and tropical biology, and has devoted many years to the study of primary forests and biodiversity; and Carles Burguera, botanist and curator of the herbarium and germplasm bank of the Marimurtra Botanical Garden. Responsible for carrying out a line of research on the recovery, restoration and study of botanical collections and promotes scientific dissemination.

Both publications have had the support of the Diputació de Girona.

Science Week 2023 at the Marimurtra Botanical Garden

In November 2023, Science Week promoted by the Catalan Foundation for Research and Innovation (FCRI) was celebrated. Once again, the Marimurtra Botanical Garden joined in the celebration of science week with different events.

Science Week is aimed at all audiences and has as its fundamental objectives to bring science and technology closer to citizens and to encourage scientific vocations among the youngest.

In this edition, the Generalitat de Catalunya promoted the commemoration of Joan Oró Year, on the occasion of the centenary of the birth of the biochemist Joan Oró i Florensa. As part of this initiative, the figure and scientific career of this famous researcher from Lleida, an international reference in the study of the origin of life, will become the guiding thread of Science Week.

The Jardí Botànic Marimurtra made a proposal where experts and fans made their knowledge and experience of science and botany available to the public in three different days.

Download the poster

Thursday, November 16th

The first day of the week consisted of a technical morning by Mariano Sánchez, curator and head of the gardening and arboriculture unit of the Real Jardín Botánico de Madrid – CSIC and co-director of the Urban Arboriculture Master at the Complutense University of Madrid . The day was divided into a theoretical part, where Mariano explained his learnings throughout his professional experience, as well as different botanical concepts in relation to the world of arboriculture.

Saturday November 18th

Marimurtra + scientific is a day to highlight some of the research, research and dissemination work carried out by different students, volunteers and collaborators at the Marimurtra Botanical Garden. Carles Burguera, responsible for the herbarium and germplasm bank of Marimurtra, participated in the first part of micro-presentations; Mia and Louisa, the two German volunteers of the European Solidarity Corps program; Anna Sans, head of the scientific dissemination department of the Marimurtra Botanical Garden and Josep Borrell, general director of the Carl Faust Foundation.
The second part consisted of a conference on biodiversity by Anna Sans, followed by ‘Birds of Marimurtra’ by expert ornithologist and environmental consultant Pere Alzina, responsible for the botanical bird inventory.

Sunday November 19

This edition of Science Week concluded with the guided tour ‘The Biodiversity of Marimurtra’, a visit that emphasizes the biodiversity that exists in Marimurtra and the actions carried out to promote it through management ecological and sustainable nature of the Garden, as well as the promotion of relationships between the plants and the auxiliary fauna that live there.

4th Mediterranean Plant Conservation Week

Marimurtra attended the 4th Mediterranean Plant Conservation Week in the Botanical Garden of Valencia. It is a congress intended to share and exchange knowledge with other organizations, entities and projects that work on the conservation and increase of the biodiversity of Mediterranean climate plants.

The congress program addressed topics such as the conservation of flora in Mediterranean habitats, the preservation of the seed bank and germplasm of species for future use, the reintegration of species in situ and ex situ, the analysis and actions in relation to invasive species for habitat restoration, the international cooperation network for the conservation of Mediterranean flora and tools for education, dissemination and communication of plant conservation.

Entities from different countries have participated in the congress, such as Cyprus, Malta, Portugal, Italy, Armenia, Lebanon, Serbia, Cape Verde, Greece, among others.

Pere Fraga, botanical conservator of Marimurtra, presented a micro-conference on the conservation of Menorcan flora and a poster on ‘Threatened coastal plant species of Catalonia: improving knowledge and ex situ conservation’ (see the poster here), while Anna Sans , scientific popularizer of Marimurtra, presented a poster on ‘A botanical garden and a wide variety of audiences, a commitment to the public and the promotion of scientific vocations. The case of the school public’ (see the poster here).

The presence of Marimurtra in these congresses is of great importance, as it opens the doors to international cooperation, one of the fundamental objectives of the Carl Faust Foundation, and brings new approaches to the task of conserving the biodiversity of species. In addition, it allows to publicize the conservation, research and dissemination work carried out by the Marimurtra Botanical Garden.

During the congress, a day was held to discuss the different strategies aimed at disseminating scientific research to citizens and making them participate in the conservation of plant biodiversity, as well as focusing on their own values or creating them new in relation to this current.

The Forestry Research and Experimentation Center (CIEF) and the Botanical Garden of the University of Valencia are mainly responsible for the organization of this 4th edition, in close collaboration with some units of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the Fund for the Critical Ecosystem Association (CEPF).

The Carl Faust Foundation launches the museological project of the 50 most remarkable specimens from the Marimurtra Botanical Garden collection

On the occasion of the International Day of Botanical Gardens (second Friday of October), the Carl Faust Foundation presents the Costa Brava Botanical Museum project, a tour of the collection of the 50 most outstanding specimens of Marimurtra that you can now enjoy through labels with QR codes distributed along the route through the Botanical Garden, which provide detailed and descriptive information on each of the specimens in the collection.

According to ICOM (the international organization that regulates museums), all botanical gardens are also considered museums. In the case of Marimurtra, in addition, the relevant arrangements will be made before the Generalitat de Catalunya to enter the register managed by the Catalan Government. The Carl Faust Foundation, manager of the Marimurtra Botanical Garden, has opted for a museum operation that is adapted to new technologies and that at the same time offers a simple operation for the user. Each of the 50 remarkable specimens in the collection is identified by a QR with the species name. When the visitor scans the QR, they access a species file where they can consult the description of the plant, what the Marimurtra specimen looks like, some curiosities about the species, some of its main uses and some botanical classifications.

Apart from the QRs, a map has also been placed at the entrance to the Garden explaining how the Museum works and the location of these 50 specimens. On the museum website marimurtra.cat/museu, there is also a welcome video where the project is presented and a short tutorial on how to use the QR codes and how to follow the museum’s route inside the Garden.

This project aims to bring science and botany closer to visitors to Marimurtra, as well as achieve an impact and learning after their visit. Apart from being a Botanical Garden with captivating views, Marimurtra is also a center for research, dissemination and conservation of the biodiversity of species.

The Marimurtra Botanical Garden was created during the 1920s by the German businessman and philanthropist Carl Faust with the intention of being a center for research, study and conservation of botanical specimens of great interest to the scientific community. His legacy lives on today through the Carl Faust Foundation, which ensures that the Botanical Garden is kept in perfect condition for visitors and also takes Faust’s will to turn it into a space dedicated to plant conservation, study of Mediterranean biology and dissemination of scientific and environmental values.

The Marimurtra Botanical Garden is classified as a Cultural Asset of National Interest and in 2009 the Carl Faust Private Carl Foundation was awarded the Sant Jordi Cross from the Generalitat de Catalunya.

50th anniversary of the Manifesto ‘Catalan, language of scientific expression’

On August 20th, the event commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Manifesto ‘Catalan, language of scientific expression’ took place in Prada de Conflent, in which Josep Maria Camarasa, member of the board of trustees of the Fundació Carl Faust, manager of the Marimurtra Botanical Garden.

Josep Maria Camarasa is one of the four surviving speakers of the eleven who presented the manifesto 50 years ago.

In 1973, the manifesto on the use of Catalan in scientific communication was presented, drawn up by 11 speakers of different ages and specialties who represented the different generations of Catalan scientists active at the time.

Although the manifesto was presented at the beginning of the decade of the 70s, it is contextualized in the era of ‘sixties’, which as well transcribed by Camarasa “It was a plural movement and of great vitality, which manifested itself as the expression of a very fierce collective will in which two objectives converged: the rejection of Francoism and the affirmation of culture (and language) as a defining form of Catalan identity”.

The presentation of this Manifesto was a belated manifestation of all the movements and actions that took place during the ‘sixties’: resumption of the science branches of the IEC, launch of the Great Catalan Encyclopedia with considerable attention to the topics scientists, incorporation of valuable scientists such as Enric Casassas, Ramon Margalef or Antoni Prevosti into the UB and the nascent UAB, first participation in Antarctic expeditions by Catalan scientists such as Antoni Ballester or Josefina Castellví, scientific vocabularies such as the Electronic Dictionary of Lluis Marquet (1971) or the Vocabulary of Medicine (1974) of the Academy of Medical Sciences, among other milestones.

On August 25, 1973, Oriol Casassas and Ramon Folch presented in the gymnasium of the Liceu Renouvier de Prada, in front of 300 people, the initial document they had drafted, which was approved, with some amendments, in the following weeks it was signed by numerous scientists from the Catalan Countries and was presented to the Institute of Catalan Studies.

The manifesto claims the use of the Catalan language in all areas but specifically in the scientific community and establishes different criteria for scientific publications with very solid arguments that take into account the history and use of the language.

A document that has become extremely important for the consolidation and regularization of the Catalan language in all its areas, but above all in the field of science.

The recorded memorial service can be viewed at this link.

50è aniversari del Manifest El català, llengua d'expressió científica

La Fundació Carl Faust estudia mesures de millora de gestió energètica i consum gràcies a un Cupó de Competitivitat

La FUNDACIO CARL FAUST ha desenvolupat el projecte “Anàlisi i viabilitat de l’aplicació de la IA en els processos operatius” que ha estat subvencionat amb el suport d’ACCIÓ en el marc del programa Cupons de Competitivitat: Cupons de Canvi Climàtic.

El projecte ha consistit en apropar el Jardí Botànic Marimurtra, propietat i gestionat per la Fundació, a uns estàndards basats en els edificis de consum quasi nul (nZEB) o a l‘acreditació LEED o BREEAM, potenciant les hibridacions d’energies renovables i economia circular per un aprofitament dels potencials disponibles segons la zona climàtica i tipologia d’edificació.

Fundació Carl Faust

The Carl Faust Foundation participated in the tribute to Eric Ragnar Sventenius organized by the Cabildo de Gran Canaria

Acte Sventenius Canaries
From left to right: Inés Jiménez, Cristòfol Jordà, Antonio Morales, Julia Pérez, Juli Caujapé and Arnoldo Santos.

Last May 22, the tribute to the founder of the Jardín Botánico de Viera y Clavijo took place on the 50th anniversary of his death

Eric Ragnar Sventenius was the Swedish botanist who founded the Jardín Botánico Viera y Clavijo and was also its first director

The impact that the work of Sventenius has had on the Island went beyond the mere collection and care of our natural heritage. It was a stimulus that coincided with the first ‘green revolution’ of Gran Canaria, when the recovery of the forest crown began after centuries of overexploitation, parallel to the implementation by the Cabildo of the construction of the network of dams and numerous works to stop erosion“, said the president of the Cabildo de Gran Canaria, Antonio Morales.

Inés Jiménez Martín, vice-president and councilor for the Environment of the Cabildo de Gran Canaria, took part in the event, which was held in the Botanical Garden itself; Cristòfol Jordà, president of the Carl Faust Foundation, manager of the Marimurtra Botanical Garden; Antonio Morales Méndez, president of the Cabildo; Julia Pérez de Paz, botanist, disciple and collaborator of Sventenius, former head of research at the Canario Botanical Garden; Juli Caujapé Castells, biologist, director of the Jardín Botánico Canario “Viera y Clavijo” in Las Palmas and host of the events; and Arnoldo Santos Guerra, botanist specializing in Canarian flora, disciple and collaborator of Sventenius, former head of the Botanical Unit of the Jardín de Aclimatación de La Orotava, in Tenerife.

Several talks were held during the event, among which the Carl Faust Foundation participated with a few words from Cristòfol Jordà on the impact of Sventenius on the Marimurtra Botanical Garden, where he worked as a gardener and botanist from 1935 to 1940. Also, he was a close collaborator of Carl Faust who was given, among other things, the hapless task of leading the Marimurtra Botanical Garden through the Spanish Civil War, a task he did successfully while ensuring its survival.

After the parliaments, a video was shown about the life and work of Sventenius made by the Department of Environmental Education of the Botanical Garden of Gran Canaria and finally a toast was made and the participating members were presented with the work Flora de Gran Canaria de Günter and Mary Ann Kunkel.

The tribute is celebrated throughout this year with several actions, one of which took place at the Marimurtra Botanical Garden in February to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the creation of the Jardín Botánico Viera y Clavijo, in Gran Canaria, and the 50th anniversary of the death of its creator.

The Carl Faust Foundation renews its collaboration agreement with the Library of the University of Girona

The Carl Faust Foundation has had an agreement with the University of Girona since 2017, under which it incorporates the Marimurtra Botanical Garden library collection as a special collection. Other actions related to this agreement have to do with the maintenance of the catalog and the public consultation of the works contained in Marimurtra, which currently exceed the more than 1500 works dedicated to environmental sciences, ecology, plant conservation, the garden design and landscape architecture, horticulture, floriculture and flora from around the world, especially from the Mediterranean area. This library wants to support research and documentation on the different botanical collections in the garden, as well as the different researchers who stay in Marimurtra. The fund is divided into two parts. On the one hand, the so-called ‘historical background’ which contains works from before 1952, the year of Faust’s death. In other words, it contains the works acquired by the founder of the Marimurtra Botanical Garden. The rest of the collection, or ‘modern collection’, contains works from 1952 to the present day, and its contents are all those scientific books acquired by the successive people in charge of the Foundation after Faust.
The agreement was in force for four years and was renewed in 2021.

More information about the Library and Archive of the Carl Faust Foundation at this link: https://marimurtra.cat/en/biblioteca-carl-faust/

Renovació conveni Biblioteca UdG | Fundació Carl Faust

Drawing contest ‘My school in Marimurtra’

The Carl Faust Foundation is opening a drawing competition for all students who visit the Botanical Garden as a guided tour or school activity (Check the Education Program) from October 15, 2021 until June 10, 2022 The competition is entitled ‘My school in Marimurtra’

Every year, more than 3,500 students from all over Catalonia visit the Botanical Garden, a unique outdoor place with more than 4,000 plant species to learn and enjoy the nature around us.

A new school year has recently begun and in Marimurtra we are also starting the 1st Drawing Contest “My school in Marimurtra”, awarding all participants with a diploma, the winning student with a “Fan Marimurtra” and free tickets by his classmates.

Check out the contest rules here.