CARE-MEDIFLORA, "Conservation Actions for Threatened Mediterranean Island Flora: ex situ and in situ joint actions", aims to improve the conservation status of threatened Mediterranean plant species. It is a project implemented by institutions of six Mediterranean islands (Balearic Islands, Corsica, Sardinia, Sicily, Crete and Cyprus) and the IUCN/SSC Mediterranean Plant Specialist Group.
The institutions involved are jointly working to address both short-term and long-term conservation needs, including: i) in situ conservation of some of the most endangered plant species of the Mediterranean islands through in situ management actions; ii) ex situ conservation of the most endangered plant species through the collection, seed banking and duplication of accessions representative of the overall diversity of selected taxa; iii) the reinforcement and enlargement of the `GENMEDA - Network of Mediterranean Plant Conservation Centres' connecting the scientific institutions involved in the project.
The project results are disseminated to conservation plant specialists from countries all around the Mediterranean, in order to increase collaboration among institutions dealing with in situ and ex situ conservation, as well as to local stakeholders and environment-related agencies, in order to raise awareness about the vulnerability of the local flora.
The project started in April 2016 and, after receiving a 6-month extension, is expected to be completed by June 2019. It is 80% funded by the MAVA Foundation.
