Francisco Pablo Salvador explains his TFG with SL methodology on the conservation of sea turtles in Colombia
Francisco Pablo Salvador, student of the bachelor's degree in Environmental Biology at the UAB, will give an interview to explain his bachelor's degree final project (TFG) on the conservation of sea turtles in Colombia, entitled “Estrategia para la Conservación de las Tortugas Marinas en las costas del Chocó (Colombia)”. The project was conducted using Service-Learning (SL) methodology. In the video published by the FAS, he explains how he came up with the idea after having done an internship in that country.
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The TFGs with SL methodology aim to respond to a real need of society, with the desire to contribute to the improvement of the quality of life of the area in question.
The project, developed on the coast of Chocó in Colombia with the support of the local entity Chocó Bird Observatory and tutored by Anna Membrives Soler, was awarded one of the prizes for the TFG with ApS methodology. The video collects the testimonials of both the student and a representative of the organisation, who explain the process of joint work, the lessons learned and the impact generated in the region.
Francisco Pablo Salvador did his undergraduate internship in the coasts of Chocó, Colombia, with the initial objective of carrying out bird banding tasks with the Chocó Bird Observatory. Once in the region, he detected that the socioeconomic and educational difficulties present in the area significantly affected the conservation of biodiversity. Given this reality, he decided to focus his final project on the design of a strategy for the conservation of sea turtles, adapted to local needs and capacities. The strategy consists of seven videos, in which the author of the work gives all the pertinent indications and explains the background and characteristics of sea turtles, management at sea, patrols, construction of the hatchery, actions during laying of eggs, the relocation of eggs, and finally, how to deal with hatchlings and the treatment of the information collected.
According to Francisco, “The learnings I have obtained from this TFG are, on the one hand, learning to coordinate work with several people [...], giving value to everything I have [...], and valuing nature on its own; it does not need anything additional, nature itself can be enjoyed.”
Ana Catalina Pinzón, representative of the collaborating entity, highlights the transforming impact of the initiative: "I think it is quite interesting that people, students, come to a place with so many needs as is Colombia and a place as small as Pangui. It transforms our culture, our ambitions for the future and our projection as a society at all levels".
On 26 May, the UAB Faculty of Veterinary Medicine hosted the 6th Service Learning Conference, in which the UAB Service Learning Office presented the awards to the best TFG using SL methodology. The winners shared the social impact of their projects, highlighting how academic initiatives can become useful and necessary tools for social transformation.
In this sense, Francisco Pablo Salvador's project is presented through this video, which illustrates how an academic work can contribute to biodiversity conservation in a vulnerable context. You can consult the work strategy here.