3rd Mediterranean Plant Conservation Week

Plant Conservation Strategies: from Science to Practice
Chania, Crete, Greece
27 September to 1 October 2021

The 3^rd Mediterranean Plant Conservation Week (3MPCW) has been successfully completed!

A total of 84 participants in person and 39 virtual from 20 different countries had the opportunity to learn and share experiences in the field of plant conservation in the Mediterranean ecosystems. It was a great participation in spite of the COVID-19 pandemic situation!

The 3MPCW included a combination of presentations, discussions, workshops, side events and field trips. It saw the participation and discussion among scientific societies, institutions and research centres, public bodies and administrators, associations and foundations.

There was constructive integration among taxonomists, botanists, conservation biologists, vegetation scientists and plant ecologists and a strong commitment that in the future it will be very important to join forces in order to achieve real conservation at the ecosystem level according to a paradigm based on micro-reserves.

It was concluded that the next Mediterranean Plant Conservation Week will be held in Valencia, Spain, in 2023. The 4MPCW will be organised by the Centre for Forestry Research and Experimentation (CIEF) of the Regional Valencian Ministry of Agriculture, Environment, Climate Change and Rural Development and the Universidad de Valencia with the collaboration of IUCN and GENMEDA.

Download conference photos as a zip file, (28,2MB)
Photos: courtesy of CIHEAM-MAICh team, Spyros Oikonomidis, Manolis Avramakis & Emilio Laguna

The 3rd Mediterranean Plant Conservation Week (3MPCW), entitled ‘Plant Conservation Strategies: from Science to Practice’, will be held at the International Conference Centre of CIHEAM Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Chania (MAICh), Crete, Greece (http://confer.maich.gr). The conference is aimed at researchers and young scientists engaged in plant conservation in the Mediterranean type ecosystems.

The main theme of the 3MPCW will be training and experience sharing in the field of Mediterranean plant conservation. The objective is that participants learn about current techniques in different fields of plant conservation and create partnerships that will help them to carry out their own projects. The main Thematic Areas are: 1) Taxonomy, inventories, Conservation Status assessment 2) Conservation planning and ex situ / in situ techniques 3) Networking, learning and communication.

In principle, a plenary session is anticipated in the mornings and a workshop session on the same theme in the afternoons, with group work for sharing questions, problems, ideas, alternative techniques, short communications on projects, discussion, as well as various ‘side events’.

Organisers

	CIHEAM Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Chania (CIHEAM-MAICh)
	Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF)
	IUCN/SSC Mediterranean Plant Specialist Group (MSPG)
	Network of Mediterranean Plant Conservation Centres (GENMEDA)