José María Fernández Díaz-Formentí gives a conference tomorrow the School of Commerce at 7 p.m. in which he will describe the keys to the wealth, biodiversity and history of the Amazon region
Tomorrow Gijón will be a little wilder city for a day thanks to the piece of Amazon that the Botanical Garden has recovered in its bowels for visitors. The wealth, biodiversity and Amazonian cultures reach the Gijón facilities through the power of the word, in this case from an Asturian expert in the field. He naturalist José María Fernández Díaz-Formentí (Gijón, Asturias, 1963) will be sharing part of his knowledge about the region and the keys that make it ‘the lungs of the planet’ with a conference that will begin starting at seven in the afternoon at the Business School. This is part of the cycle ‘Talk with the Botanist’ and was recently presented at the National Museum of Natural Sciences.
Through images taken on his many trips, Formentí will explain why it owes its extraordinary wealth and why it is so important to preserve it. This conference is an introduction to the Amazon region, where its geography, geological history and formation of the basin, main living environments, representative flora and faunawith some of the fascinating interactions between its species.
Díaz-Formentí is doctor specializing in stomatology and he has dedicated his career to spreading the word about the natural wealth of his two favorite places in the world: his home (Asturias) and the Amazon. He is the author of up to eight books (of essays and photographs) about the forests and nature of Asturias, and Permanent Member of the Royal Institute of Asturian Studies (RIDEA). His early interest and study in the Amazon and the cultures of Ancient Peru and the Andean world have motivated him to travel to South America on dozens of occasions over the last 44 years to study in situ the natural enclaves of this subcontinent, as well as the archaeological places where the Andean culture developed and its historical episodes.
He has explored and researched the Amazon rainforest since the 1980s, traveling through numerous national parks and natural reserves in the different countries in which he is located on several dozen trips. Likewise, he has developed several field studies and publications about the Andean and Amazonian territory, also gathering an important archive of thousands of high-quality images of nature, landscape, archeology and anthropology. Also has collaborated with the UNESCO publications service, preparing various articles, reports and photographic documentation. Likewise, she has contributed to numerous books, magazines, articles and publications with texts and photographs.
He is also a member and coordinator of scientific-cultural activities for South America of the American Studies Association of the Principality of Asturias (AEAPA). Among the latest investigations that he currently has in hand, the development of a biography about the Asturian captain Gonzalo Díaz de Piñera (16th century), pioneer in the exploration of the Amazon, when he entered it in 1538 in search of the Country of Cinnamon, in addition to finishing his third book about the Muniellos Comprehensive Natural Reserve.
