Botanist of the month: Albert Navarro
This week in Espores we talk with Albert Navarro, a botanist who has been dedicated to the conservation of protected flora in the Region of Valencia for more than 20 years. Albert shares with us his experiences and the reasons that made him fall in love with botany. This early vocation led him to change his studies in Agricultural Engineering for a degree in Biological Sciences and eventually working passionately to protect biodiversity in our closest environment.
What attracted you to botany?
The obvious answer, but not an insignificant one, is plants. Out of all the living beings, plants are the most characterizing part of a landscape, or an ecosystem. I came to that understanding a bit late: I was raised in a village in the Horta Sud area, so the landscapes of my childhood were agrarian, industrial and urban. The first scientific names of plants I ever knew were the Bermuda buttercup (Oxalis pes-caprae), the white wall rocket (Diplotaxis erucoides) and the London rocket (Sysimbrium irio), which grow in the mosaic of crop fields, streets and industrial buildings that I’ve seen the Horta Sud become throughout my life. It was a month-long stay as an environmental volunteer in the Penyagolosa range that sparked my passion for mountains. And for field trips. A month without TV, of phone, or news. A permanent horizon of trees and green. Of rocks and dirt. Of mysterious noises and cold water. I had begun studying to become an agronomic engineer, but I dropped out in order to start the Biological Sciences degree instead. Botany becomes a space where plants, geology, meteorology, wildlife… nature, after all, lean on.
Could you summarise your professional career?
From a strictly botanical perspective, I’ve been working for more than 20 years in the conservation of protected flora of the Region of Valencia, taking on tasks assigned by the Valencian government through the Servei de Vida Silvestre i Xarxa Natura 2000 department in the public company VAERSA (Valencian company of strategies and resources for environmental sustainability).
By the end of the 20th century, our region had passed legislation in flora protection that was groundbreaking in Spain. However, it was becoming obsolete in terms of real knowledge about abundance and distribution of the rarest species, which are precisely the ones that must be protected. This wasn’t an inherent feature. Not long ago, what we knew about the rarest plants, if we were lucky, consisted of a 10x10km or 1x1km grid, a toponym, the altitude and the expert opinion of a botanist about its rarity. And that information was used to elaborate red lists or protected flora lists. This needed some narrowing down to find out which species deserve protection or not, and to which degree. Hence, it was necessary to collect accurate demographic and geographic data about the plants presumed to have a threat of extinction. My job basically consisted in monitoring those plants. A job I share with other colleagues with whom I work side by side.
What does your work consist of?
Monitoring protected flora does not only consist of measuring a species’ threat level and evolution over time. A list of protected flora isn’t a silly hierarchic classification of threatened species — that would be a red list. Besides, public administrations with competences in flora protection are committed to not only prevent that their threat status gets worse, but to improve it as far as possible. And there are two ways to do it: increasing abundance and distribution of protected plants by creating new populations (collection of propagules, germination, culture and plantation in nature), or finding new populations that were previously unknown or there wasn’t enough information about them to implement protection.
My work starts ex situ, researching the biology of the species. Finding its locations is clearly the next step. Here the existence and development of the Biodiversity Data Bank of the Region of Valencia has turned out to be an extremely helpful tool in recent years. But it is also necessary to search publications, herbariums, reports and any other information at hand. After that, the field trip and all its inherent logistics must be planned out. And there must be in situ work on the species by registering it in the most appropriate way and collecting geographical data as accurately as possible in order to elaborate, in the office, a map of the protected Valencian flora.
How do you think your work has changed over the years? New technologies, processes, specializations, etc.
At the beginning of the century people worked with paper maps on a 1:50000 scale, without orthophotos or GPS receptors, with a GIS software still in its infancy, with technical information also in paper and disperse or inaccessible. Mobile phones were emerging, and the reception was poor anyways…
Nowadays everything is marvellously within reach. Accessibility to documents and cartography is easy and the information is abundant. GPS, computers… you carry them in your pocket. Cartographic software has evolved a great deal and there are different options. On top of that, easy-to-access biodiversity data bases have been created.
In all these years as a botanist, what is the funniest or most curious situation you have found yourself in?
Well, sometimes you walk up and down the beach in the middle of the summer dressed up in long trousers, backpack, boots, hat, GPS, mobile phone, tally counter, notebook… This contrasts with the beach goers sunbathing and swimming over there. They’re so peaceful, enjoying life and their vacations. The contrast is even sharper if it’s a nudist beach.
What is your relationship with the Jardí Botànic and its staff?
The relationship of a devoted admirer. Besides, over the years I’ve established lovely and meaningful relationships with technicians and researchers in the Jardí that still last.
What’s the role of scientific dissemination?
Dissemination is important. Even more important is receiving appreciation for your work. But it’s hard. Wild and rare plants aren’t media friendly. Some orchids or plants with beautiful flowers might be, but the rest are invisible to society at large.
When you’re working it’s not unusual to be approached by someone who asks you what you’re doing. When you explain it to them, people tend to listen attentively and politely. But some of them ask: ‘Does that plant have any use?’ And I don’t think they’re being bigots. They simply don’t know the value of biodiversity.
Are you proud to have been involved in a particular project or discovery?
Demographic and geographic data collection of plant species, which I’ve worked on over the years, has been and is useful to assess its threat level. This information is fundamental to evaluate and/or produce legislative lists of protected flora in Valencia, Spain and the European Union. It is also a resource for the project ‘Atlas and Red Book of Threatened Vascular Flora of Spain’ or the IUCN Red List. At a regional level, three legislative reviews have already been made on that subject: 2009, 2013 and 2022.
What’s more, with that information, our team creates the ‘Map of Protected Flora in the Region of Valencia’. This map is incorporated in the Cartographic Viewer of the Valencian Government (in its internal version for the regional administration staff). It’s useful for the tasks of land managers, in their competences, to value possible impacts on the threatened species due to projects, constructions or any other activities. All without leaving the office.
Have you met interesting people through your work?
Absolutely. Many of them are linked to botany and have already been interviewed in Espores.
How do you imagine future botanists?
As an endangered species. During the last years, the university has tended to reduce hours of botany classes, teachers and resources. It’s funny how this negative tendency has almost paralleled the gradual increase of scientific and social awareness of the positive value of biodiversity in all its aspects. Even so, there is less and less investment in preparing scientists that will be capable of working in its study.
Do you consider yourself a disciple of any botanist in particular?
No, not particularly. But I believe science applied to floristics and taxonomy is essential. I can’t overlook the work over many years of botanists like G. Mateo, M. B. Crespo and their publications on Valencian flora. Also, and for the same reason, O. de Bolós and J. Vigo. And for their work as well, the authors of the Iberian Flora publication.
What’s the fundamental skill for your job?
Patience, curiosity and enthusiasm. Paraphrasing Chesterton: ‘There is one thing which gives radiance to everything. It is the idea of something around the corner.’
It doesn’t hurt knowing a thing or two about flora! And about geography as well.
Are you allergic to any plant? Or pollen?
I usually suffer from allergic rhinitis during a few days in spring, but it’s not a big deal. I have no idea which pollen I react to. But I’m sure it’s from male specimens! Interestingly, this allergy has developed during adulthood.
What are the most unpleasant and the most rewarding parts of your job?
The most unpleasant part is getting home late, exhausted, dirty, sweaty, scraped, pierced and with sore feet. That is also the most rewarding part. And if you manage to find what you were looking for, even better.
What is the first thing you do when you get to your office? And the last thing?
When I start my day, I tend to check the weather forecast and the accumulated annual climatic data. That’s usually the last thing I do as well. You have to keep an eye on the weather if you’re going to the field. You also have to try to predict the phenological state of the plants in their locations so you can find them in the right moment.
Do you work alone or in a team? What is it like to work like this?
I work in a team, but sometimes I go on field trips on my own. Regards to my colleagues and friends Josep, Josep, Joan, Pati, Simón, Aruca, Carlos, Emili…
You can work alone, some people do. But it’s better having people around that do the same as you and share their hopes, worries and specific mindsets. It’s also safer.
Internship students deserve a special mention. For more than 15 years I’ve had the pleasure to regularly enjoy their company during working hours. Of course, it’s a mixed bag, but I hold very nice memories of many of them.
