Another initiative for preserving the indigenous Portuguese forest. Come plant this idea in the 24th of November.

It is a single joint action involving 100,000 volunteers already enrolled and which aims to restore the native forest nationally to the mountains devastated by the worst fires ever in Portugal. The initiative, which will take place on November 24th, is being organized by Hands to Work (AMO), which organizes the same cleanup actions in the national territory, in order to "plant ash, holm oak, arbutus, Pyrenean oak, Portuguese oak, chestnut, cherry, mountain oak, alder, elm and birch. For this, the AMO intends to pull the corporate environmental responsibility and motivate them to buy national trees (certified) so that everyone can contribute to a healthier forest. "
The Foresting Portugal movement is being organized in partnership with the Joint Forest program, coordinated by Quercus, and aims to "contribute actively to bring all citizens, especially young people, to the forest." To actively participate in this environmental event just contact your parish councils, or environmental organizations involved in this process. The idea is to restore the green color in the landscape tormented by the fires, but above all, recover and build a green park with native Portuguese species.

http://www.amoportugal.org/

It is an event, which will take place on 28th of September in science centers, museums and universities to promote science in several cities in Europe.

Hundreds of scientific institutes of 300 European cities simultaneously promote an informal evening between scientists and the public of all ages. In Portugal, the initiative will take place in 26 locations in North, South and islands. The European Researchers' Night (ERN) is an initiative promoted by the European Commission, which takes place on the same day in several European countries and Israel. By carrying out activities that constitute a good alternative to a typical evening program on Friday, seeks to create an environment conducive to interaction between the scientific community and the public, young people are interested in pursuing a career in children and adults curious, teachers seeking to boost their rooms, or anyone else looking for a different night. The activities of this year pass through judo to fencing, billiards to table tennis, gymnastics to archery, nobody will be stopped (but athletes seriously promise to give a little help to the most untrained). However, there are other arrangements which do not have a Olympic status, such as Parkour.
During ERN 2012 is possible to discover how our body moves with a motion detector, as it is a bike whose pedal requires an ID and make your electrical muscle or how science can inspire an athlete to play in a rugby field . But if the public does not understand how a scientist works just pull the arm and ask someone to explain it better. As in previous years, will be announced the finalists for science communication Famelab, which will explain why insist on running even when we know that it makes us hurt. In the end, researchers, athletes and coaches from the sports area present key ideas about their activities and their impacts on society through SPRINTalks.

It is the second edition of the fund for conservation of aquatic ecosystems.

The Lisbon Oceanarium (LO) in partnership with the "National Geographic Channel" intend to encourage the conservation of endangered species, improve knowledge about the specimens that depend on coastal ecosystems and promote the maintenance of existing biodiversity, through the Fund Inaqua. The focus this year is the preservation of the lagoons, estuaries and rivers of Portugal. 15,000 euros is the amount awarded to the best conservation project, which according to John Falcato, administrator of LO, "intends to support through the" Fund Inaqua "projects that the final result contributes decisively to the conservation of aquatic ecosystems ".
The target set for this year's edition, arises because these "ecosystems present themselves severely affected by human activities such as fishing, dredging and disposal of organic and chemical products. Pollution, habitat loss and degradation have revealed widespread consequences for fauna and flora.
The lagoons are extremely important regionally, presenting an obvious ecological and scientific value, economic and social. Its high biodiversity (marine and terrestrial), as well as the socio-economic issues associated with it that determines the urgent need to protect and conserve these areas. For the ecological importance of these ecosystems, the Ria Formosa lagoon system was one of the first protected areas created in our country. These wetlands are also international importance as a habitat for many species of waterfowl. Many birds use these areas as a point of feeding, nesting and shelter in migratory pauses. For this reason many of these systems are considered as ramsar sites, currently subject to some statutory protection, either because they include the national network of protected areas, because they have been designated as special protection areas under the Birds directive or contained in national list of sites defined the scope of the habitats directive. Portugal is a member of the convention of migratory species that among other agreements, the agreement incorporates African-Eurasian waterfowl. "
To the award may apply, public or private nonprofit legally recognized, presenting projects that contribute to the survival of endangered species, to improve the knowledge we have of them that depend on these coastal ecosystems and promote the maintenance of biodiversity existent. Applications held between September 3rd and 1st of November 2012.

http://www.oceanario.pt/inaqua

It is the master degree project of a young architect, Manuel Vieira Lopes, of the University of Porto.

It is a housing concept that promises to revolutionize the way we live, making our lives more eco sustainable. "Houses in Motion" is a project of the young architect Manuel Vieira Lopes, who aims to "explore not only the usage of photovoltaic panels, but also other equipments with a luminosity adaptive glass, and movements which will recover energy. Regarding the passive recovery system we value the usage of materials with thermal and acoustic insulation due to its nature, like wood or cork, looking at taking advantage of the national product offer. Variety of exterior spaces like a reflecting pool, permeable pavements, or other surfaces are adapted to the house during all day, always concerning about the footing , taking advantage of the most adequate surface in the moment, varying the possibilities between the dawn and sunset, and also, between the 4 seasons during the year". If you did not understand what was just said, imagine that your home is like a sunflower, or throughout the day it goes around watching the movement of the sun in search of an efficient energy use, with the advantage that within 24 hours the landscape will also change before your eyes.
"Houses in Motion" also guarantees new housing concepts, "controls all the involving space, being the house made for his user and not the other way round, consequently the habitation answers the needs of the inhabitant". " For this purpose "were developed various typologies, the concept sought a diversity of forms and spaces, connecting interactively, optimizing the full potential that the site offers to practice architecture, its inhabitant life, always adapting to the needs of man to space. "Another advantage of "moving house" is its portability when there's a job offer elsewhere the residence can be transported to a new location. Due to its innovative character it is of the project finalist in the competition "Solar Declathon Europe 2012", one of the largest international exhibitions dedicated to ecological housing that will this year be held in Madrid from 14 to 30 September.

http://www.casasemmovimento.com/videos.html

The environment wins with the payment of the plastic bags.

The plastic, as is generally known, is a material hardly biodegradable, takes centuries to disintegrate. Portugal produces only about 2 tons per year of plastic bags. Although not weigh almost nothing has a detrimental effect on the environment and in particular for marine fauna that confuses it as a food, causing its death. A study by the regional chamber of Quercus in partnership with the University of Madeira revealed that the fee for plastic bags in supermarkets promotes reuse of this material that is not biodegradable, petroleum-derived, from consumers by about 50%. The aim was to study the behavior of optimizing and reusing shopping bags in 1028 customers on the island of Madeira. The study included two types of bags, paid and free, in two major retail chains and food distribution. The analysis, according to the website of Quercus, "reveals that the supermarkets where the bags are offered the use of new bags occurs in 95% of customers, a rate much higher than that which occurs in supermarkets where the bags are paid by revealing that the payment is a strong contribution to the reduction in the production of plastic bags that would inevitably contribute to greater production of waste. " Concerning the optimization of plastic bags, there was "also substantially improved results in supermarkets where customers have paid bags, a further contribution to preventing the generation of waste. Also concerning this last case the rate of customers who fills well the bags (2 to 3/3 of its capacity) reaches 52%, whereas that care is much lower in supermarkets where customers are offered bags. All conclusions induce a single measure which is the payment of plastic bags in all supermarkets.

http://madeira.quercus.pt/scid/subquercus/defaultarticleViewOne.asp?categorySiteID=596&articleSiteID=1731

Of one of three recovery centers of Quercus.

The hospitals of wildlife animals receive every week debilitated, sick, run over by cars or injure by bullets patients, with the aim to contribute to their full recovery and return them in a near future to their environmental, as is the case of Styx, an owl of the woods who likes eating mice and needs your help because he was hit by a automobile. Altogether Quercus (environment organization) has three recovery centers for wild animals, particularly in the towns of White Castle, St Andrew and Montejuro that work with the invaluable aid of a staff of specialist and the help of many volunteers, who need financial support to be able to provide the best veterinary care to these specimens in danger due to external causes.
Hence the creation of a campaign that aims to foster some of these creatures that are recovering at the premises. So "sponsorship is an original way to meet and collaborate in the preservation of different species of wildlife. The godfather thus becomes an active member in fostering the recovery of wild animals in Portugal, through a financial contribution; all you have to do is come into contact with each of recovery centers". In exchange you receive, "a certificate of sponsorship, information about the development and recovery of your pet and still be able to watch his release when the time comes to return them to the natural environment and also you receive a photograph of your godson." It was crafted a table of donations, allowing potential godfathers to choose the best way to help the recovery and subsequent return to the wild of some of the most beautiful examples of the Iberian fauna. Styx and his friends tank you and the environment too. In the link that appears below are images of some of the animals that can be sponsor!

http://cras.quercus.pt/scid/subquercus/defaultarticleViewOne.asp?categorySiteID=586&articleSiteID=1635

The center of biological engineering at the University of Minho, led by Ana Oliveira, aims to create a fungus that decimates the bacterial plague that affects these living beings.

The bees are probably the most important species on our planet. Plays a key role in the pollination of plants, produces honey which is one of the healthiest foods in our food chain and one of the most used in many organic and cosmetics products around the world. It is curious how a group of living things so small can be so important in our lives, so much so that its extinction would be a disaster with huge repercussions. It could even jeopardize our own very existence. One of the greatest dangers to bees is the American foulbrood, a bacterial disease that affects the hives causing huge economic and ecological damage. A Portuguese scientist, Ana Oliveira, intends to help these small allies trying to figure out how to eliminate these troublesome bacteria through biological vectors antimicrobials, bacteriophages that exist in isolated environment. That is, the goal is to create a product based on fungi that can be applied by beekeepers in bees, which may come to the encouraging results for consumption and export of honey.

"Despite being an innovative solution, the Center for Biological Engineering the University of Minho already studies the application of bacteriophages in disease control for some years. The research project is being developed in partnership with the engineer Jaime Moreira, which is dedicated to beekeeping in the area of ​​Entre Douro and Minho, the National Federation of Beekeepers and the General Directorate of Veterinary. Just remember, that the American foulbrood, caused by the bacterium Paenibacillus larvae, affects the larval stages of the bee, the adult bees are responsible for their distribution. This leads to 17 000 Portuguese producers to burn the affected hives to eradicate the disease, affecting the growth of the activity, which in 2011 yielded only about 100 million euros”.

www.lusa.pt

It is an international conference held for the first time in Portugal.

The XIII World Congress of rural sociology of the international association of rural sociology is held for the first time in our country, in Lisbon, from 29th of July until the 4th of August. The event triggers the debate, reflection and presentation of scientific studies that promote the exchange of views and stimulate social, economic and technical new visions for the rural areas. This global meeting, which covers several countries, has 1100 members who sent 1500 papers they plan to present in the 70 working groups established for this purpose.
The Portuguese capital hosts this four-year holding event, co-organized by the Institute of Agronomy and Institute of Social and Political Sciences on the theme 'The New Rural World Crisis to Opportunity." The aim of the XIII meeting is to make the "diagnosis of the causes, exploring solutions and critical evaluation of alternative paradigms will be subject to scrutiny by the scientific community of these areas in order to redefine the urban-rural divide, exploring new forms of social organization, examine alternatives to diets without fear addressing old and new utopias". Among the various interventions and reputable scientists involved in social movements stand out from the Director General of FAO, Graziano da Silva, Susanne Friedberg, Stuart Holland, Boaventura de Sousa Santos, Tim Lang, Terry Marsden and the Founder of Sociology of Agriculture, William Friedland ".

http://www.cienciahoje.pt/index.php?oid=55016&op=all

It is a major concern of the people and the Portuguese authorities.

Water is not an inexhaustible well that is a fact. The water availability is a major concern of the authorities, since it is essential for our survival and for the future generations. It is indispensable in many economic areas, including industry and agriculture, hence it is essential a good management of this precious resource in our country, which does not happen in an very efficient and sustainable way. According to a report titled, "availability of fresh water," from a group of students from the Faculty of Engineering of Porto, "the climate change that our planet has suffered in recent times led to a deterioration of water quality and the reduction of  its availability. In some parts of Portugal the lack of fresh water is already a serious problem. The water is essential because it depends, for example, agriculture and as such, the food production. The trend is that the rate of water stress continues to increase more, ie the demand exceeds the amount of water available for a certain time or its poor quality limits its use. With the prospect that in future the problem of water scarcity has a more serious impact is important that measures are taken towards optimization of the water so that future generations can also enjoy this essential good".

Some of these procedures are also included in the national plan for water (PAN), but are not implemented, "as regards the inclusion of procedures to minimize the effects of drought, it is proposed to carry out a contingency plan for these periods ". Another proposal aimed "preventing and minimizing pollution accidents and the development of contingency plans for action in case of accidental pollution. If reduced, it has a lower level of damage to the aquatic ecosystems, so a greater amount of water available, contributes to the protection of this ecosystems. " The other promotes "the integration of a river system, the naturalization of the beds and banks and clearing of water lines, project valuation of water courses, scenic and environmental points of identification of risk and promotion of their correctness, so it can integrated the conservative measures and the cleaning of water lines. " It should be noted also "the need to rehabilitate the irrigation systems, by building new infrastructure and systems that allow adaptation to different seasons. A no less important, "promoting efficient water use and quality of services in public supply systems and their rational use in the industry, identification and reduction of leakage and elimination of waste and consumption are not counted. The last measure stresses the need for "systematic campaigns of public awareness, by environmental education, training and dissemination of information about water."

http://paginas.fe.up.pt/~projfeup/cd/relatorios/R213.pdf

The University of the Azores remains at the forefront of marine scientific research.

The "Azoalg" is a biological project aimed to develop a potential drug through some species of algae on the shore of the Azores. Speaking to the island daily, responsible, Maria do Carmo Barreto said that it "is a project that is being developed on the island of San Miguel since 2006 and has reached some preliminary results. We chose locally existing algae, which are not exclusive and are abundant in the island; we are not dealing with endangered species. Then we wanted to algae that can be collected at low tide, without recourse to diving because of the economic point of view will be much more interesting". The results, guaranties, are optimistic, "we chose five species and already tested anti-tumor and anti-oxidant activity, in the laboratory. Almost all species recorded both with very good results. "A promising scenario that has already sparked the interest from other universities at the national level, in particular, Aveiro and Porto, as well as the scientific center of Laguna in the Canary Islands. The contribution of these researchers is of vital importance as it will helped to include the identification of biological components that result in the molecule that will result in the medicine, as declares the scientist, "would be ideal, although we are aware of the difficulty of that happening. In economic terms, the impact would be important. That will permit to get a patent and sell it to a pharmacy company. "The "azoalg" have a sustainable aspect, i.e., does not compromise the rarest species of algae exist in the Azores archipelago. The aim is to use the most common specimens that appear in the surface rocks, without jeopardizing existing marine ecosystems and may thus enhance future economic activity.
http://www.uac.pt/noticia/projeto-da-universidade-dos-acores-ja-identificou-atividade-antitumoral-em-algumas-especies-algas-da-costa-acoriana-podem-agir-contra-o-cancro-1
http://centrocienciaah.com/galeria/intertidal