“Maybe not as spectacular as the tropics, but orchids are beautiful.”
- The laudioarra Joxe Blanco Gómez is the driver of the blog Lamuzanaturgunea and member of the initiative Laudiokolore. In May, a few days were held on the forest orchids of Mount Arraño. “As we researched indigenous trees and wild plants for the blog, we were surprised by a large number of wild orchid species and in recent years we have focused on monitoring orchid populations,” he explained. In addition, various conferences and guided tours have been held to wild orchids.
Blanco stressed that network members are not scientists, but amateurs: “We rely on the philosophy of the punk world ‘do it yourself’, we want to contribute from curiosity to the people.” In addition to dealing with issues related to wild plants and wild orchids, in these years others have worked: ethnobotany, toponymy, invasive plants, complaints of stems of singular trees… “Ours is a small network, open to everyone”, he added. The members of the initiative do citizen science.
And why an orchid? This is how he has shown us his interest in this unique flower: “When people hear the word orchid, they remember the spectacular flower of florist that has its origin in the tropics, but orchids are on all continents, also in Euskal Herria.” According to various sources, in our territory we have about a hundred orchids, and only in the area of Arraño Lamuza, in Llodio, have 24 species been identified. “A European directive points out that the area where more than ten species grow is a ‘unique space’ of orchids and a priority habitat,” he adds.
Initiatives to make orchids known and protected
The members of the association observed that the wild orchids of Mount Arraño were in danger by the pressure of human activity and, in order to protect them, have been carrying out small closures. “Together with the City Hall of Laudio we have carried out several initiatives, we have improved the protective structures, we have adjusted the grass cuts, we have organized guided tours…”. This year, as a novelty, conferences, visits and other events have been held throughout the month, among others. The team has highlighted the great success of the visits and the evaluation of them has been very positive. “In the autumn we will make the second part of the days,” he said.
Blanco believes that the climate emergency situation is a little disappointing, but also believes that it is more necessary than ever to organize such initiatives to bring about change: “We believe that it is essential to respond with positive initiatives to the current black reality.”
