Since 2002, the University of Tuebingen and partner universities in Brazil have held an annual geoecological field training, with over 300 participants to date. Until 2020, the excursion was organized and lead by Prof. Rainer Radke. Due to the Covid 19 pandemic, the last excursion in 2020 had to be interrupted and will now take place again in 2024 for the first time after the pandemic. Prof. Radke has now retired, so the excursion is being organized by Prof. Martin Ebner (University of Tuebingen), who was also part of the last excursions, and Prof. Mirco Sole (UESC). This year, around 30 German and Brazilian students from Tübingen and the UESC are participating in the excursion.
The excursion will focus on various Brazilian biomes - the Mata Atlântica, the Caatinga, the Restinga coastal forest and the mangrove forests in Bahia and Rio Grande do Sul. In Bahia, the excursion focuses on various primary forests, different forms of land use such as the cabruca agroforestry system and rubber plantations. The partner university is the UESC, with the Tropical Herpetology Lab of Prof. Mirco Sole. Thus the training on biodiversity is focused on the herpetofauna.
The excursion is returning to Fazenda Bom Pastor for the third time. The focus is on the cabruca agroforestry system as an example of a sustainable, biodiversity-friendly cultivation method. The future viability of this cultivation system in comparison to the cocoa monocultures in West Africa will be discussed, particularly in view of climate change and the increasing loss of biodiversity.