BluoVerda Deutschland e.V.

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Who are we?

We are BluoVerda, a newly founded organization consisting of motivated and committed environmental experts. BluoVerda focuses on a wide range of topics related to ecosystems, biodiversity and livelihoods. Our projects and initiatives mainly involve six key areas: climate, forests & wildlife, mountain ecosystem, marine & freshwater, food & farming (agriculture and fisheries) and sustainable cities. By linking these areas in an integrated approach, we can better direct our resources to maintaining, enhancing and recovering vulnerable landscapes, species and people in Latin America.

Much more detailed information can be found on our official website.

So… what is this blog all about? We have different ideas in mind how we can use this platform to publish and share all kinds of valuable information with anybody interested. On the one hand, we will definitely report about the projects which have been realized by our organization, for the sake of transparency, of course, so that our members or donors can see what we are doing. In addition, we also intend to contribute to the transfer of knowledge. Consequently, there will be many exciting articles, filled with background knowledge about our topics.
You may be curious, we certainly are. So, stay tuned, subscribe to our blog and look forward to many exciting stories from South America’s rainforests and other ecosystems.

From wildmarkets to landscape degradation: the link between biodiversity and the emergence of new diseases

By Mariana Vidal Merino

Virus outbreaks, transmitted to humans from an animal host are some of the most lethal diseases known (Ahmad 2020). This is believed to be the case of the current Covid-19 pandemic, whose origins have been traced to a wildmarket in Wuhan. Responding to the raise of Covid-19, China enforced a ban on any field-harvested or captive-bred wildlife and many argue this should be an opportunity to permanently ban the commercialization of wildlife for consumption (Yang 2020).

Potential transmission cycles of SARS-CoV2 (formerly 2019nCoV). From Ahmad 2020.

First impressions of the GIS workshop by BluoVerda and Weltweit

By Leonard Holl

I am Leon, a Master student at Wageningen University. I have a forest and nature conservation background, and as such I remember my frustrations when I was using programs like arcGIS for the first time. Mind you, that was before the Corona Pandemic, in a time where groups of students would sit close to each other in classrooms, working together to solve a problem, with the presence of a teacher who helps in case needed. I was worried that learning how to use QGIS online was going to be an even bigger challenge.

Starting of the learning journey ©BluoVerda

I don’t believe in climate change, do you?

By Patrícia Gallo

I want to start our talk by telling you that I don’t believe in climate change. I don’t believe in global warming. I don’t believe that the sea levels are rising. I don’t believe that rainfall patterns are shifting. I don’t believe that the temperatures on Earth and in the oceans are increasing. I don’t believe that climate change disproportionately affects the poor and vulnerable groups, especially women and children. I don’t believe that climate change intensifies human migration and displacement. I don’t believe that the negative impacts of climate change on species, biodiversity and ecosystems are already evident. I am a scientist. We can then argue that this denial is a conflict between values and facts. Admitting that climate change exists it involves the capability of accepting certain facts. Still, being alarmed about climate change, it consists of building bridges between the science (facts) and peoples’ commitments and convictions (values). I am a scientist, I acknowledge, and I am alarmed about climate change. Nevertheless, people not necessarily must believe in climate change to act on it.

“The rain is not coming”

A short story about how climate change affects the livelihoods of farmers in the Andes

^{This is a work of fiction based on the author’s experience. Names, characters, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons or events is purely coincidental.}

By Mariana Vidal Merino

“The rain is not coming” says Pablo while he stares at the dry grass and clenches his fists. Since he was a small child, his grandfather took him to the Pomacocha Mountain and showed him how to recognize the signs of mother nature: if you climb the mountain by the beginning of September and you find fresh grass already growing, this means the rain will come soon and it will be a good year for crops and animals. It’s already the end of September and the grass is still dry. “What’s happening? where is the rain?” he asks himself and thinks about his cattle that will go hungry this month.

Pablo’s grandfather guiding the cattle in the Pomacocha Mountain ©BluoVerda e.V

Die ,,Initiative Latinxs Leipzig” in kooperation mit „BluoVerda Deutschland e.V.” ruft zur Solidarität mit den indigenen Gemeinden Amazoniens auf

English version below

Die Coronavirus-Krise hat den Amazonas erreicht, wo bereits mehr als 20.000 Indigene infiziert sind. Die betroffene Region umfasst mehr als 2.400 indigene Gebiete in acht Ländern: Brasilien, Peru, Kolumbien, Bolivien, Ecuador, Kolumbien, Venezuela, Guyana und Surinam. Die indigenen Völker sehen sich nach wie vor starken Einschränkungen beim Zugang zu grundlegenden Dienstleistungen ausgesetzt, die zu den dringendsten Gesundheitsdiensten gehören. Die COVID-19-Pandemie hat diese Mängel aufgezeigt und setzt die historischen Forderungen einer der verletzlichsten menschlichen Gruppen in Südamerika auf die Tagesordnung.

Workshop on Project Monitoring and Reporting: Introduction to Geographic Methods using Open-Source Software

BluoVerda Deutschland e.V. and Weltweit e.V. in collaboration with the Institute of International Forestry and Forest Products of the TU Dresden are pleased to invite you to apply to the online workshop “Project Monitoring and Reporting: Introduction to Geographic Methods using Open-Source Software”.

The story of Guadalupe

The little armadillo that survives forest fires in Bolivia

By Marolyn Vidaurre

Dear readers, the following story is related to our previous post: https://bluoverda.home.blog/2020/03/09/4-1-million-hectares-of-forest-destroyed-by-fire-in-bolivia/

The forest fires that Bolivia experienced in 2019 are considered the largest natural disaster in the last ten years. The fire has consumed more than 5.3 million hectares of tropical forest in different regions of the country and has killed more than two million animals. With the best intentions to help, BluoVerda Deutschland e.V. organized local activities in Dresden, Germany to collect donations and support CIWY, who along with other organizations rescued and cared for the wildlife affected by fires.

4.1 million hectares of forest destroyed by fire in Bolivia…

…and this extension is similar to the size of Switzerland!

_{Dear readers, this great text was written by Marolyn Vidaurre in October 2019, and we have published it at our website. As we have a blog now, we decided to publish it again, since in a few days a new post will be published with some updates =)}

By Marolyn Vidaurre

More than 40 days after the forest fires began, a loss of 4.1 million hectares is estimated throughout the national territory. The department of Santa Cruz concentrates 71 percent of the total areas affected by fires nationwide and Chiquitania is the most affected region with more than 2,440,000 hectares burned. Additionally, there have been fires in 20 of the 22 protected areas in the country. Although it has been possible to control the fire in some sectors, strong winds and high temperatures are causing the flames to advance at 1,000 meters per day in a curtain greater than 45 kilometers.

Happy New Year! Enjoy the fireworks!? Let’s have fun collecting garbage!

On the morning after New Year’s Eve celebration, many of the headlines in the newspapers may be related to the following question: what will the next decade bring us? Maybe a quite common thought for the first morning of the year. Something almost impossible to know in such a complex time. Maybe it would be easier to think about dreams, desires and hopes.

Trends in Ecology, Conservation and Climate Change: Agroforestry Systems

The presence of trees in agricultural lands contributes to the maintenance of production under a variable climate, and protect crops against climate extreme occurrences (Pramova et al. 2012). The agroforestry system – which combines trees with crops and/or livestock – is therefore, being increasingly recognised as an effective approach for minimising production risks under climate variability and change (Verchot et al. 2008). Moreover, in agroforestry systems only a small percentage of plant biomass is harvested, most of it remains on the ground. Thus, agroforestry systems can offer significant carbon benefits to landscape management.