16 June 2017

On 14 June, Life PonDerat was invited to the "Congress on Conservation and Management of coastal areas of the Mediterranean", organized by Life Res Maris project and held at the Botanical Garden of Rome.

The program, dense and interesting, included several presentations about Res Maris project, the protagonist of the day, as well as about other LIFE projects aiming at recovering coastal areas, by means of actions to protect dunes, scrub habitats and submerged environments such as Posidonia prairies.

PonDerat technicians presented a quick overview of project actions, focusing in particular on those that will protect the coastal habitats typical of the Ponziane Islands through the eradication or control of invasive alien, animal and plant species.

During the day there were two speechs of particular interest for the actions foreseen by PonDerat. The first was by Dr. Loretta Gratani, Director of the Botanical Garden of Rome, who talked about the phenotypic plasticity of Carpobrotus edulis and its ability to grow in response to light. The presentation highlighted the features that allow this plant to invade our dunes and supplant native plants.

Following, Dr. Alicia Teresa Rosario Acosta, of the University of Roma 3, by analyzing the main threats for Italian sandy coastal ecosystems, highlighted that, among the various invasive alien species present in our territory, Carpobrotus is the one to monitor more carefully and with priority.