Guide of Good Restoration Practices for Mediterranean Habitats -.:: Ecoplantmed
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‘ECOPLANTMED’ ECOLOGICAL USE OF NATIVE PLANTS FOR ENVIRONMENTAL RESTORATION AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN THE MEDITERRANEAN REGION ‘GUIDE OF GOOD RESTORATION PRACTICES FOR MEDITERRANEAN HABITATS’ Disclaimer: This publication has been produced with the financial assistance of the European Union under the ENPI CBC Mediterranean Sea Basin Programme. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of CIHEAM – Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Chania and can under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of the European Union or of the Programme’s management structures. The European Union is made up of 28 Member States who have decided to gradually link together their know-how, resources and destinies. Together, during a period of enlargement of 50 years, they have built a zone of stability, democracy and sustainable development whilst maintaining cultural diversity, tolerance and individual freedoms. The European Union is committed to sharing its achievements and its values with countries and peoples beyond its borders. Reproduction authorised providing the source. Cite as: Marzo A, Herreros R & Zreik Ch (Eds.). 2015. Guide of Good Restoration Practices for Mediterranean Habitats. Ecoplantmed, ENPI, CBC-MED. Editors: Antoni MARZO (CIEF), Raquel HERREROS (CIEF), Christophe ZREIK (CIEF). Authors: Gianluigi BACCHETTA (UNICA-CCB), Daniel BALLESTEROS (UNICA-CCB), Khaoula BEN BAAZIZ (INRGREF), Magda BOU DAGHER KHARRAT (USJ-LSGC), Bouchra DOUAIHY (USJ-LSGC), Kaouther EL HAMROUNI (INRGREF), Perla FARHAT (USJ-LSGC), Christine FOURNARAKI (CIHEAM-MAICh), Panagiota GOTSIOU (CIHEAM-MAICh), Dany GHOSN (CIHEAM-MAICh), Raquel HERREROS (CIEF), Abdelhamid KHALDI (INRGREF), Marwa KHAMMASSI (INRGREF), Ali EL KHORCHANI (INRGREF), Adamantia KOKKINAKI (CIHEAM-MAICh), Antoni MARZO (CIEF), Francesca MELONI (UNICA-CCB), Faten MEZNI (INRGREF), Rosangela PICCIAU (UNICA-CCB), Joelle SAAB (USJ-LSGC), Ramy SAKR (USJ-LSGC), Marco SARIGU (UNICA-CCB), Salma SAY (INRGREF), Issam TOUHAMI (INRGREF), Christophe ZREIK (CIEF). Acknowledgements: The authors would like to express our profound gratitude to all individuals and institutions that have kindly collaborated with us in the edition of this publication, and specially the managers and technicians of the restoration projects submitted. Paco ALBERT, José Antonio ALLOZA, Daniel ARIZPE, Ricardo BARBERÁ, William COLOM, Jordi CORTINA, Vicent CERDÀ, Maria Antonietta DESSENA, Sela HUESCA, Miquel IBÁÑEZ, Petros KAKOUROS, Emilio LAGUNA, Eduardo MARTÍNEZ, Jesús MARTÍNEZ-LLISTÓ, Marcello MIOZZO, Martino ORRÙ, Rafael PAULO, Giorgos PETRAKIS, Silvia PINNA, Gloria ORTIZ, Carlos PEÑA, Aruca SEBASTIÁN, Sales TOMÁS, Alberto VILAGROSA, Antonio VIZCAÍNO. The ECOPLANTMED project would like to thank the European Union and the ENPI CBC Med Programme for their support. Cover design: Nayla FERZLIi and Clément TANNOURI Presentation The creation of a Guide of Good Restoration Practices for Mediterranean habitats is an initiative that arose from the collaboration among seed banks, research institutes and institutions dealing with native plant conservation and management, who addressed the need for using native plant genetic material in restoration actions. The Mediterranean Basin, being the third most significant plant diversity hotspot worldwide, is an area where plant species conservation and ecological habitat restoration are of major importance for sustainable development. Restoration practices using native locally adapted plant species with sufficient intraspecific genetic diversity can contribute to long-term protection and enhancement of the Mediterranean natural and cultural heritage as well as landscape protection, management and planning. Furthermore, using native plants can increase ecosystem resilience to climate change and combat the proliferation of invasive alien plants. In the case of habitats of high conservation value, appropriate restoration practices are even more crucial. The Guide of Good restoration Practices is a compilation of bibliographical research on ecological restoration and Mediterranean habitats, and contains a selection of 15 Good restoration Practices involving native plants that have been identified for different Mediterranean habitats, as well as a description of two pilot restoration actions. It is addressed to all those involved in habitat, ecosystem and landscape restoration activities including policy makers. The Guide attempts to make the use of local plant genetic material a necessary consideration in restoration activities, thus complementing the conservation of plant diversity in the Mediterranean Basin. The edition of the Guide and the two pilot restoration actions described within were made possible by the project ECOPLANTMED: ‘ECOlogical use of native PLANTs for environmental restoration and sustainable development in the MEDiterranean region’. The project aims to contribute to halting the loss of biodiversity and to promote a sustainable development model in the Mediterranean region by enhancing the conservation of native plants and promoting their use in habitat restoration and the plant production sector. The Guide and the Manual for the propagation of native plants (Ballesteros et al., 2015) also produced by the project are expected to become useful tools for the planning and implementation of restoration action in all countries of the Mediterranean Basin. The ECOPLANTMED project has a total budget of 1.050 million Euros and it is financed, to an amount of 0.945 million Euros (90%), by the European Union under the ENPI CBC Mediterranean Sea Basin Programme 2007-2013. ECOPLANTMED is one of 95 projects funded under this Programme, a multilateral cross-border cooperation initiative financed by the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument (ENPI) which involves 14 countries (Cyprus, Egypt, France, Jordan, Greece, Israel, Italy, Lebanon, Malta, Palestine, Portugal, Spain, Syria -participation currently suspended- and Tunisia). The Programme, managed by the Autonomous Region of Sardinia on behalf of the European Commission and participating countries, aims to promote a sustainable and harmonious cooperation process at the Mediterranean basin level by addressing common challenges and enhancing the endogenous potential of the area and has a total budget of 200 million Euros (www.enpicbcmed.eu). ECOPLANTMED project duration: January 2014 – December 2015 For more information about ECOPLANTMED, see http://www.ecoplantmed.eu/ ECOPLANTMED partnership Coordinator CIHEAM - Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Chania Mediterranean Plant Conservation Unit (CIHEAM – MAICh) Crete, Greece www.maich.gr Partners University of Cagliari Centre for Conservation of Biodiversity (UNICA - CCB) Sardinia, Italy www.ccb-sardegna.it Saint Joseph University Laboratory for Seed Germination and Conservation (USJ) Lebanon www.usj.edu.lb Regional Ministry of Agriculture, Environment, Climate Change and Rural Development Centre for Forest Applied Research (CIEF) Valencia, Spain www.cma.gva.es National Research Institute for Rural Engineering, Water and Forestry Laboratory of Management and Valorisation of Forest Resources (INRGREF) Ariana, Tunisia www.inrgref.agrinet.tn Index 1 THE MEDITERRANEAN HABITATS ......................................................................................................... 6 1.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 6 1.2 General descriptions....................................................................................................................... 8 2 ECOLOGICAL RESTORATION .............................................................................................................. 12 2.1 Concept ........................................................................................................................................ 12 2.2 The importance of native species in ecological restoration .......................................................... 13 3 USE OF NATIVE FLORA: REGULATORY FRAMEWORK OVERVIEW ................................................ 15 3.1 Avoiding exotic species ................................................................................................................ 15 3.2 Use quality materials: ensuring identity, phenotypic quality, wide genetic basis .......................... 17 3.3 Use local provenance materials ................................................................................................... 18 4 TECHNIQUES ON HABITAT RESTORATION ........................................................................................ 20 4.1 Forests ......................................................................................................................................... 22 4.2 Freshwater Habitat ....................................................................................................................... 24 4.3 Coastal / Dune Habitat ................................................................................................................. 27 4.4 Arid / Semi-arid Systems .............................................................................................................. 29 5 THE GOOD PRACTICES ........................................................................................................................ 31 5.1 Methodology used to identify and select Good Practices ............................................................. 31 5.2 Selected