SIMASEED

Sicily and Malta host a large part of the biodiversity of the Mediterranean basin (fauna and flora) currently threatened by multiple factors (environmental, anthropic, economic, social, political and institutional).

The partnership proposed for the joint implementation of the project, made up of the University of Catania, the University of Malta, the Sicily Region and the Ministry for Gozo, will bring together skills and abilities to achieve the common challenge, which is to stop the loss of biodiversity, making use of modern biotechnologies, working together to standardize best practices and the development of common protocols, ensuring the sustainability and long-term conservation of both plants and habitats (EC Directive 92/43).

The project aims to contribute to halting the loss of biodiversity and promoting a model of sustainable cross-border development, improving the conservation status of wild flora and promoting its use in environmental restoration and in the nursery sector. These objectives will be achieved through seed conservation in germplasm banks (ex situ conservation), the resulting macro-micropopagation of the selected species and the reinforcement (in situ conservation) of their populations in the threatened habitats of the Natura 2000 network.

Project outputs can be used by many beneficiaries: researchers for scientific studies and publications, local authorities for practical applications (restoration of urban areas with native species), start-ups and spin-off companies to undertake the cultivation of native species and activities green businesses, students, workers and technicians to improve their biodiversity conservation know-how.

The innovative aspect of the project lies in proposing a combined approach between in situ and ex situ conservation methods, exceeding the limits that both show if used separately.