The VACALOURA.pt Project is a citizen science project coordinated by the Bioliving Association in partnership with the Wildlife Unit of the Biology Department of the University of Aveiro, the Portuguese Entomology Society and the Institute for Nature Conservation and Forests, and which has more than 50 ambassadors.

Our aim is to compile and organise information sent in by citizens on the distribution and status of populations of the Blonde Cowbird and other beetles of the Lucanidae family in Portugal, in order to collaborate with the European Blonde Cowbird Monitoring Network, which in turn aims to ascertain the conservation status of this species in its distribution area.

The project has a strong environmental education component, with which we aim to disseminate and raise awareness of the importance of dead wood in forest ecosystems, the biodiversity associated with these habitats and how we can all help to conserve these ecosystems together.