Veà's relationship with the University of Veracruz began in 1997 when he participated in an exchange program for university professors organised by the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation, which he repeated in 1998 and again in 1999.
It was in Veracruz where he met Ernesto Rodríguez Luna, with whom he continued to collaborate later on.

This first contact made it possible to sign a collaboration agreement between the Faculty of Psychology at the University of Barcelona and the Institute of Neuroethology at the University of Veracruz in 2000.

In 2001, he first came into contact with Los Tuxtlas Biosphere Reserve in Veracruz, Mexico.
Considered the most northern jungle on the planet and declared a biosphere reserve by UNESCO, Veà saw an opportunity to deepen the study of ethological factors initiated by Sabater Pi.

From 2002 he extended the institutional collaboration incorporating students from both universities in the investigation work in the jungle.
This activity has allowed the participation of fifty students in the first ten years, whose work is summed up in twenty theses on aspects related to alouatta palliata populations, studied in-situ, half of which Joaquim Veà himself supervised.

In 2005 he began to research the effects of isolation in “fragments of rainforest” – caused by deforestation – on the populations of alouatta (howler monkeys).
Alouatta are tree-dwelling animals that live virtually without touching the ground; the fragmentation of the rainforest causes them to become immobilized in one area.

In 2011 he undertook a new campaign in Los Tuxtlas at the San Martin Volcano, part of a joint project between the University of Barcelona and the University of Veracruz.
The team, co-directed by Joaquim Veà and Ernesto Rodríguez Luna from the Mexican university, investigated the impact of territorial fragmentation on the conservation of the alouatta palliata.
Although the species is not endangered on a global scale, within the jungle of Veracruz researchers have detected a decrease in the population, inspiring this collaborative work of analysis.

One of the reasons behind the decrease is due to the competition with humans for space.
Speaking of this topic, Veà stated in 2011: “We have to plan how human populations are going to live alongside conservation policies in this habitat.
We cannot trust in ‘sustainable’ use of natural resources, because when humans aren't able to extract the resources they want, the process intensifies, breaking the ecological equilibrium.
It is therefore vital to include the human population in conservation policies”.

To monitor the possible migration of different isolated spaces within the jungle, they launched a program of genetic monitoring of populations in collaboration with the University of Cambridge.

The results of the studies on the fragmentation of populations identified an increase in stress, especially among females, when a male from outside the group approached the area, because they felt that their offspring are being threatened.
In addition, food limitation in areas of reduced surface area was forcing individuals to adapt their diet to increased food deprivation.
Veà highlighted that “although this situation revealed up to what point individuals have the capacity for adaption, in some cases, undernourishment can lead to health problems that would make the population inviable”.
Results can be compared to humans who “do not always eat everything which they should, for example in underdeveloped countries that have problems with malnutrition, rickets, a range of illnesses, but this does not put an end to the population, but rather provokes them to change their characteristics”.
Veà's relationship with the University of Veracruz began in 1997 when he participated in an exchange program for university professors organised by the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation, which he repeated in 1998 and again in 1999. It was in Veracruz where he met Ernesto Rodríguez Luna, with whom he continued to collaborate later on.
This first contact made it possible to sign a collaboration agreement between the Faculty of Psychology at the University of Barcelona and the Institute of Neuroethology at the University of Veracruz in 2000.
In 2001, he first came into contact with Los Tuxtlas Biosphere Reserve in Veracruz, Mexico. Considered the most northern jungle on the planet and declared a biosphere reserve by UNESCO, Veà saw an opportunity to deepen the study of ethological factors initiated by Sabater Pi.
From 2002 he extended the institutional collaboration incorporating students from both universities in the investigation work in the jungle. This activity has allowed the participation of fifty students in the first ten years, whose work is summed up in twenty theses on aspects related to alouatta palliata populations, studied in-situ, half of which Joaquim Veà himself supervised.
In 2005 he began to research the effects of isolation in “fragments of rainforest” – caused by deforestation – on the populations of alouatta (howler monkeys). Alouatta are tree-dwelling animals that live virtually without touching the ground; the fragmentation of the rainforest causes them to become immobilized in one area.
In 2011 he undertook a new campaign in Los Tuxtlas at the San Martin Volcano, part of a joint project between the University of Barcelona and the University of Veracruz. The team, co-directed by Joaquim Veà and Ernesto Rodríguez Luna from the Mexican university, investigated the impact of territorial fragmentation on the conservation of the alouatta palliata. Although the species is not endangered on a global scale, within the jungle of Veracruz researchers have detected a decrease in the population, inspiring this collaborative work of analysis.
One of the reasons behind the decrease is due to the competition with humans for space. Speaking of this topic, Veà stated in 2011: “We have to plan how human populations are going to live alongside conservation policies in this habitat. We cannot trust in ‘sustainable’ use of natural resources, because when humans aren't able to extract the resources they want, the process intensifies, breaking the ecological equilibrium. It is therefore vital to include the human population in conservation policies”.
To monitor the possible migration of different isolated spaces within the jungle, they launched a program of genetic monitoring of populations in collaboration with the University of Cambridge.
The results of the studies on the fragmentation of populations identified an increase in stress, especially among females, when a male from outside the group approached the area, because they felt that their offspring are being threatened. In addition, food limitation in areas of reduced surface area was forcing individuals to adapt their diet to increased food deprivation. Veà highlighted that “although this situation revealed up to what point individuals have the capacity for adaption, in some cases, undernourishment can lead to health problems that would make the population inviable”. Results can be compared to humans who “do not always eat everything which they should, for example in underdeveloped countries that have problems with malnutrition, rickets, a range of illnesses, but this does not put an end to the population, but rather provokes them to change their characteristics”.
Joaquim Veà Baró