Category: Marimurtra

Science Week 2021 in Marimurtra

Posted on by JBMarimurtra
Over the last two weekends, there have been a lot of science-related activities at the Marimurtra Botanical Garden.

Setmana de la Ciència 2021 | Jardí Botànic Marimurtra

On November 12 and 13 we had the presence of the illustrious botanist Francis Hallé who gave two lectures (“The intelligence of plants” and “The architecture of trees”) and a practical drawing workshop based in the models of arboreal architecture that he himself has defined over more than 50 years of profession.

Its presence in Marimurtra responds, precisely, to the acts of homage to the half century of dedication to botany that Sello Arboleda wants to put in value through the visit to different points of botanical interest, the first of which has been the Garden Marimurtra Botanist.

A new edition of ‘Marimurtra + Científic’ was held on November 20, a one-morning activity in which some of the most important scientific activities of the Marimurtra Botanical Garden are presented. This year has focused on volunteer programs, plant extracts, herbarium, seed bank and the Mosquito Alert project. About twenty people attended this activity which combined the exhibition parts with the practices. In other words, in addition to learning about the different initiatives, it was also possible to make a small herbarium, practice the choice of seeds and get to know first hand the spaces where the natural extracts that make up the Marimurtra Botanical Garden are made.
Finally, on November 21, there was a free guided tour on scientific topics entitled ‘The biodiversity of Marimurtra’. This visit, lasting more than an hour, was designed to provide information on the main aspects of environmental management in Marimurtra. The more than 20 participants who were part of it were able to get to know first hand the programs for the production of plant extracts, the production of compost and natural fertilizer, the inventories of birds and insects, etc.

Once again, the Marimurtra Botanical Garden has taken part in Science Week, offering its visitors the opportunity to enjoy an enriching, scientific and fun experience.

  • Setmana de la Ciència | Jardí Botànic Marimurtra
    Francis Hallé a Marimurtra

Drawing contest ‘My school in Marimurtra’

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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.

School activities for the 2021-22 academic year

School activities for the 2021-22 academic year

Posted on by JBMarimurtra

The Carl Faust Foundation bases its work on three main pillars: the conservation of plant species, scientific research in the field of Botany and the dissemination of its plant heritage. In the field of botanical dissemination, the educational work aims to let the public know about the natural and scientific heritage of the Marimurtra Botanical Garden, specifically to visitors and students from both national and international schools.

The Marimurtra Botanical Garden presents its new catalog of visits, guided activities and educational resources for the 2021-22 academic year.
In this catalog you will find resources for all levels of education, from Primary School to College, to discover the environment, solve challenges and encourage curiosity about the plant world, science and cultural heritage of Marimurtra Botanical Garden.

The program contains guided tours of different types and specific activities for each educational stage that take place in Marimurtra. It also contains activities that can be held at the school, such as the virtual visit “Virtual Marimurtra at School” (https://bit.ly/marimurtra-virtual) and the “Travelling Activity; the secrets of the seeds ”, led by Marimurtra’s guides in the classroom.

As a novelty, we present “Marimurtra and the Sea”, an activity that aims to raise awareness of the plant world in the terrestrial and marine environment, and which consists of a guided tour of the Botanical Garden and a guided snorkeling trip in Cala Sant Francesc.

On the other hand, this year, booking educational activities at the Marimurtra Botanical Garden is easier than ever! As a novelty, you can request your reservation from the new online form apart from the usual channels (email escoles @ marimurtra.cat and telephone 972 33 08 26).

You can find all the information regarding the possibilities and educational programs of the Marimurtra Botanical Garden on our website www.marimurtra.cat/escoles

  • Activitats Escola | Jardí Botànic Marimurtra

Info:

Botanical gardens, as museums and science centers, have the basic function of reaching both the general public and experts, and it is crucial that they reach students in schools. The museographic strategy includes teaching and dissemination actions, which are defined from the contents generated by botanical research, conservation and, in the case of Marimurtra, its collection of more than 4000 plant species.

Marimurtra returns to the sea to raise awareness of botanical biodiversity with the Botanical Snorkel

Marimurtra returns to the sea to raise awareness of botanical biodiversity with the Botanical Snorkel

Posted on by JBMarimurtra
Marimurtra, un Jardí Botànic que des del seu inici ha estat connectat amb el mar, torna a apostar un any més per l’snorkel botànic, una activitat que ofereix als seus visitants una experiència que va més enllà de descobrir les més de 3500 espècies vegetals que es troben a l’interior del Jardí.
Amb l’snorkel botànic, els participants s’endinsen al meravellós món submarí on descobreixen que la biodiversitat vegetal no acaba als penya-segats i que la vida vegetal continua exuberant al medi marí.
En aquest indret de la Mediterrània, s’hi troben una gran quantitat d’espècies d’algues diferents, que constitueixen la base d’un ecosistema ric i divers que permeten que moltes altres espècies (tant animals com vegetals) tinguin unes condicions molt favorables per viure-hi. Tota aquesta biodiversitat forma un paisatge submarí ple de colors i vida, que es poden observar de la mà de guies d’snorkel experts en biologia marina. Amb l’Snrokel Botànic de Marimurtra es podran distingir les algues, classifica-les i entendre l’extraordinari valor que tenen per l’ecosistema.
Més informació sobre l’Snorkel Botànic a https://bit.ly/snorkel-botanic-marimurtra
  • Snorkel Botànic 2021 | Jardí Botànic Marimurtra
The new inhabitants of Marimurtra

The new inhabitants of Marimurtra

Posted on by JBMarimurtra

The Marimurtra Botanical Garden contains an organic garden (specifically, in the 2nd Garden) where visitors can see and learn about horticultural varieties in our area that, for various reasons, have ceased to be present in the market or are in danger of disappearing. This organic garden is complemented by a chicken coop as a sign of the importance of biodiversity and the systems of relationships that have been created since ancient times between humans, animals and plants.

Since this past weekend, three new hens have been living in this fantastic chicken coop specially designed for the Marimurtra vegetable garden. The three hens are currently about two months old and were given to us by Joan Borrell, from Vilobí d’Onyar, who takes care of chickens of this species and others in danger of extinction in his orchard. The three hens belong to the Empordà breed, a breed that is native to our country and comes in three different forms: red, white and partridge. The three hens that can now be seen in Marimurtra are of these three types.

Apart from being an important part of the small ecosystem that has been created in Marimurtra and that relates the garden to pets, chickens and hens are an attraction that excites the little ones in the family and offers the opportunity to be able to explain (to young and old) why to have a vegetable garden that is cared for without using synthetic chemicals and that is in perfect harmony with the chickens. A perfect place to discover, explore and learn as a family, and to explain the origin of such basic foods as many vegetables or eggs.

These three hens of the Empordà breed are the new inhabitants of the Marimurtra Botanical Garden, and we invite you to come and meet them with the little ones in the house.

  • Gallines | Galliner | Jardí Botànic Marimurtra

Mosquito Alert and the Marimurtra Botanical Garden continue their collaboration in various experiments related to the tiger mosquito

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Mosquito Alert and the Marimurtra Botanical Garden continue their collaboration in various experiments related to the tiger mosquito

Marimurtra, due to its climatic characteristics and the great plant biodiversity it contains, requires variable water inputs. All in all, it generates habitats very similar to the natural ones of the tiger mosquito. For this reason, it becomes an ideal place for carrying out Mosquito Alert experiments.
It should be noted that Marimurtra applies treatments to prevent the proliferation of this invasive species with very good results, and yet it is still a very suitable natural laboratory to carry out this type of study.

The following studies are currently being conducted:

1.Study of the dynamics of tiger mosquito populations throughout the season through the deployment of a series of traps to monitor the adult mosquito population in the Garden.
These traps are part of a more extensive network of traps throughout the province of Girona. The aim is to have data on the population dynamics of the mosquito in the province to understand the climatic factors, land uses (urban, garden, urbanization, etc ..) and sociodemographic that determine the abundance of mosquitoes.

2.Study of the population structure of the tiger mosquito in the garden and its survival. Experimentally, it is being studied in the garden how long a tiger mosquito lives and the demographic structure of its populations, this is done by comparing the survival rates of an experimental population born in a laboratory whose age is known, and wild individuals caught in the garden. The survival study is important because the tiger mosquito is a vector (ie, transmitter) of disease. Therefore, determining the length of time mosquitoes live allows us to better understand the potential for transmission of these diseases.
3.Analysis of the treatments that are being done to control the proliferation of tiger mosquitoes and determine how these treatments affect the mosquito population.
4.Study of the human-mosquito interaction network. The goal is to analyze how many people can be bitten by a tiger mosquito from the genetic study of blood found inside female mosquitoes. Genetics makes it possible to find out if the blood corresponds to one, two or more different people and therefore to know how many different people a female can bite.
It is very interesting to determine what the network of interactions of the tiger mosquito is because there is not much scientific information about it and it will be possible to determine the potential for transmission of the diseases of which the tiger mosquito is a vector.
This pioneering study is done by relating the DNA in the blood in the abdomen of the female mosquito to the DNA of people who donated it to do this study. This way, you can know how many different people the mosquito has bitten and how many times it has bitten the same person.
5.Installing a smart trap. This trap works with artificial intelligence and is able to identify mosquitoes that enter it from the sensors it contains.
With these experiments, the Marimurtra Botanical Garden continues to collaborate with the Mosquito Alert project to better understand the behavior of the tiger mosquito and its impact on the human population. You can find more information about the tiger mosquito in Marimurtra by clicking here.

Agreement with the Vedruna School of Malgrat for a herbarium from the beginning of the 20th century

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This herbarium, dated around 1909, has been recently discovered and will allow the presence of certain species of plants in Catalonia to be dated for the first time

Conveni Escola Vedruna Malgrat | Fundació Carl FaustThe Marimurtra Botanical Garden has received on loan a herbarium from the Vedruna School of Malgrat de Mar elaborated between 1909 and 1913 which will allow botanists and experts of the Marimurtra Botanical Garden to study and document the collection of plants collected at the beginning of the 20th century in different towns of the Baix Empordà that it contains. In other words, we can take a trip back in time to rediscover the plants that were in that place a hundred years ago and compare them with the current ones, which will allow us to date the presence of ornamental crop plants in the area and document species found for the first time time in Catalonia. In addition, this natural history collection places in the territory one more sample of the naturalist and botanical work that existed in Catalonia at the beginning of the century.
The herbarium received from the Malgrat de Mar Vedruna School consists of about 400 specimens of the ruderal, riverside, horticultural and ornamental flora of three towns in the Baix Empordà region (Sant Tomàs de Fluvià, Torroella de Fluvià and Vilacolum). It is preserved in very good condition and was prepared by Luis de Pont Adroher, a Girona pharmacist of whom the University of Girona herbarium also preserves some of his specimens.
Funded project
The Francesc Eiximenis 2021 Fund, awarded by the Ramon Muntaner Institute, has selected the study “Two Herbaria from Girona: Botany from Girona at the beginning of the 20th century (1909 to 1939)” presented by botanist Carlos Burguera, botanist curator of the herbarium of Marimurtra Botanical Garden. Precisely, the herbarium received is the first of these two representative herbaria of the Girona flora, which will allow to witness the plant species found in different regions of the province collected during the first half of the 20th century.
While waiting to receive the second herbarium, the Carl Faust Foundation begins the restoration and conservation work of the herbarium to begin its computerization and study.
  • Imatge d'un dels plecs de l'herbari

Marimurtra’s insect hostel

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Conversation between Pau Bosch, designer and builder of the insect hostel, and Jordi Fàbregas, Master Gardener of the Marimurtra Botanical Garden

During 2020, the second Marimurtra insect hostel was installed in the Braun-Blanquet lake area, in the 3rd Garden (the first is located right next to the organic garden).
An insect hostel is a typical element of the gardens that fulfills many functions at the same time.
On the one hand, it offers shelter and a space to nest the pollinating insects in the garden and, therefore, it helps those insects that participate in the reproductive function of plants to find a safe and welcoming space to carry out their task. Continuing with biodiversity, it must be said that an insect hostel brings variety and biological richness to a garden precisely because it is designed from the point of view that a garden is much more than its plants, and to understand it, many other important layers must be taken into account: from the soil itself to the animals (insects, amphibians, birds, etc.) that inhabit it. In other words, the insect hostel is also part of the narrative that has led Marimurtra to quit using synthetic chemicals to respect and enhance biodiversity, human, animal and plant health and, ultimately, pave the way towards a world without products that can be harmful to life on the planet.
In the case of the insect hostel at Lake Braun-Blanquet, it can be seen that it contains two different types of spaces: holes and plant elements. The holes are the really interesting part for pollinating insects (solitary bees, etc.) as it offers them a place to nest and lay their eggs. The different plant elements that the hostel contains, on the other hand, serve as shelter for insects that find safety in the insect hostel.
Finally, we must highlight the landscape value of an insect hostel like Marimurtra’s, which becomes an outstanding element of the Botanical Garden, also becoming an aesthetically remarkable piece, with a unique design and made with proximity materials that perfectly integrate with Marimurtra.
We invite you to discover every corner of the insect hostel of the Marimurtra Botanical Garden.

Preparem la planta de temporada amb en Ventura

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Des de fa més de 50 anys, els jardiners de Marimurtra preparen anualment la flor de temporada als vivers del Jardí per tal que el visitant sempre trobi les espècies més destacades de cada estació. Aquest procés de preparació és ja una tradició a Marimurtra iniciada pel seu creador, Carl Faust. Això vol dir, que alguna de les llavors que s’estan plantant actualment, descendeixen de les plantades aleshores.

Aquest cicle es duu a terme dues vegades a l’any, i consisteix a recollir la llavor de les flors del Jardí i seleccionar-ne les millors per  guardar-les en pots de vidre per la seva correcta conservació. Quan arriba la temporada de plantació, es prepara el planter amb terra i compost que es prepara a Marimurtra, per poder sembrar-les. Quan ja han crescut, es transplanten a l’interior del Jardí, i quan aquestes plantes tornin a fer flor es torna a repetir el procés.
D’aquesta manera, s’obtenen dos beneficis:

  • L’aprofitament dels recursos que ens dóna la pròpia planta.
  • La visualització del cicle vital de les espècies.

En Ventura Torroella, jardiner del Jardí Botànic Marimurtra, ha estat l’encarregat de preparar la planta de temporada des de fa més de dues dècades i en el següent vídeo ens explica com duu a terme aquest ritual de Marimurtra.

Setmana de la Ciència a Marimurtra

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Celebració de la Setmana de la Ciència 2018 al Jardí Botànic Marimurtra

La Fundació Privada Carl Faust organitza jornades de portes obertes i visites guiades amb sistema de taquilla inversa Jardí Botànic Marimurtra en motiu de la Setmana de la Ciència

Com cada any, la Fundació Carl Faust se suma a la Setmana de la Ciència oferint unes jornades de portes obertes que tindran lloc els diumenges vinents 11 i 18 de novembre. Tenen com a objectiu apropar el Jardí Botànic Marimurtra a tots els públics per tal que els visitants puguin gaudir de la riquesa del seu patrimoni botànic, arquitectònic, paisatgístic i humà.

A més a més de les jornades de portes obertes, la Fundació Carl Faust aprofita la Setmana de la Ciència per donar a conèixer el jardí botànic de la Costa Brava a través de la visita guiada ‘El rebost del Jardí Botànic Marimurtra’, que es va estrenar en la passada edició de la Setmana de la Ciència 2017. Aquesta visita posa en valor la multitud d’éssers vius que habiten Marimurtra i com es relacionen entre ells. Tracta temes de gran rellevància pel jardí com la feina que s’està realitzant a l’horta ecològica del jardí, cultivant plantes que curen plantes; el compostatge natural que s’elabora a Marimurtra amb els propis desfets del jardí i que novament serveixen per nodrir les plantes; o els ocells que viuen al novembre al jardí i com s’alimenten. Aquesta, fomenta la conscienciació de la importància d’aprofitar els recursos naturals per al desenvolupament de la tasca que es realitza al Jardí Botànic Marimurtra, i obre les portes a nous plantejaments que garanteixin la sostenibilitat del medi ambient.

Les visites guiades es duran a terme els dissabtes 10 i 17 de novembre a les 11.00 h i cal reserva prèvia trucant al 972 33 08 26 o enviant un correu a marimurtra@marimurtra.cat

Els temes centrals de l’edició d’enguany de la Setmana de la Ciència són, d’una banda, el patrimoni cultural, amb motiu de la celebració de l’Any Europeu del Patrimoni Cultural que promou la Unió Europea; la figura i l’obra de Pompeu Fabra, amb motiu de la celebració dels 150 anys del naixement del lingüista i gramàtic català, celebració promoguda per la Generalitat de Catalunya; i la figura del prestigiós físic nord-americà Richard Feynman, amb motiu de la celebració del centenari del seu naixement, promoguda pel Grup de Comunicació i Divulgació de la Nanotecnologia, EspaiNano.

La Fundació Carl Faust és la propietària i responsable del manteniment del Jardí Botànic Marimurtra. En els seus estatuts s’hi estableixen els seus objectius fundacionals que són: “la protecció i el foment dels estudis de biologia mediterrània, especialment en botànica, […] cercant la cooperació i les relacions internacionals en benefici, tot plegat, de la recerca i de la divulgació científiques.”

La Fundació Carl Faust va ser mereixedora el 2009 de la Creu de Sant Jordi i el Jardí Botànic Marimurtra està classificat com a Bé Cultural d’Interès Nacional per la Generalitat de Catalunya.