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MedSeaGrass as case study in the 1st international conference on Plant Translocation in Rome

MedSeaGrass as a case history at the “1st International Plant Translocation Conference” organized by Prof. Thomas Abeli ​​(University of RomaTre) and held in Rome from 20 to 23 June 2022. 

The conference was an important opportunity for conservation biologists from around the world to illustrate their scientific research, discuss the conservation experiences of endangered plant species and how to render conservation actions, and the "Conservation Translocation" come specifically defined by the IUCN, more effective. 

Giuseppe Fenu, associate professor of the Department of Life and Environmental Sciences of the University of Cagliari, main speaker in the session dedicated to the Mediterranean Bioclimatic Regions together with researchers from the University of Western Australia and the Center for Plant Conservation of San Diego in California, during his speech dedicated to illustrating the current state and future prospects of translocations for threatened plants in the Mediterranean basin, gave the example of MedSeaGrass, a project coordinated by the MEDSEA Foundation, with the contribution of the MAVA Foundation and in collaboration with the Sinis Marine Protected Area - Mal di Ventre Island as a good practice for the conservation and management of Posidonia oceanica meadows.  

Through the organized and smart management of the moorings, with the Bluemooring.org platform, the free and incorrect anchoring of boats is managed, often to the detriment of the Posidonia meadows of the Mediterranean, which have been monitored and restored with the planting of 6000 cuttings in about 300 square meters. 

The project aroused great curiosity among the participants as an example of conservation action of great scientific and technical interest. During the speech, the need, subsequently resumed by different participants at the congress, was emphasized to favor the exchange of information and knowledge between researchers and conservation biologists to promote in situ conservation actions for increasingly effective threatened plant species. 

Biologists from all continents attended the events, included Dr. Axel Moehrenschlager (Wilder Institute / Calgary Zoo - Canada), Chair of the IUCN Conservation Translocation Specialist Group (CTSG). 

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