Fleurs Locales

Optimising resources and coping with biodiversity loss: the opportunity of native seeds

aggnet12 — Wed, 26 Apr 2023 11:04:42 +0000

In the face of the current massive loss of biodiversity and dwindling resources such as water, both accelerated by climate change, native seeds offer an opportunity to restore resilient ecosystems, address species loss, replenish our soils, and facilitate the reproduction of pollinators. Creating strong ecosystems that are more similar to those around them allows them to be more efficient in the use of resources, offering a greatly increased potential for survival.

In this area of work, Fundación Global Nature (FGN) participates in the Interreg Sudoe Fleurs locales project, which is now being concluded. Combining efforts with experts from France and Portugal, its goal is to emphasise the value of using native seeds as a potential resource for recovering degraded spaces and restoring their ecosystemic benefits. After more than two years of work, the initial results in Spain highlight the existence of rigid and complex regulations that perpetuate a value chain that is unable to meet the needs of the market. These regulations ‘prevent the straightforward and large-scale use of native seeds by the end consumer’.

“Native seeds are essential when the restoration project is being carried out in an area of high natural value, such as a protected natural area and the like, because the priority is to guarantee the genetic expression of the pre-existing plant community,” explains FGN project coordinator and Fleurs Locales technician Jordi Domingo. He affirms that the aim of “creating green businesses” based on these seeds and mobilising all the actors involved remain part of the solution.

He adds: “even when we are in spaces which are not so sensitive, such as in an urban environment or on industrial land, or where reclamation is not viable due to high cost, for example in agricultural areas, even though this work might not be essential, it is still advisable.” Domingo emphasises the importance of fostering a robust natural environment, with a greater capacity for autonomy and replication, having an enhanced potential to offer the ensuing ecosystemic benefits arising from this restoration process and which represent a real contribution.

“The truth is that restoration projects require large quantities of native seeds, specific seeds, but the supply chain is not offering these possibilities,” explains Laura García, coordinator of Fleurs Locales and a technician at Fundación Global Nature, which has also led a study on obtaining these seeds through the baling of natural grasses.

“It is a necessary challenge, because we have seen that there are many ways to promote the use of these seeds, which will also help to recover specific species that are being lost,” García adds. She confirms that the work with these seeds will continue thanks to various entities beyond FGN, because it has become clear that native seeds are an opportunity in the face of the challenges of the climate crisis: the loss of biodiversity, the scarcity of resources and climate change.

La entrada Optimising resources and coping with biodiversity loss: the opportunity of native seeds se publicó primero en Fleurs Locales.

Close to 200 attendees for the webinar Restoration with Native Seeds and Other Environmental Solutions

aggnet12 — Thu, 06 Apr 2023 11:20:59 +0000

On 3 March, Fundación Global Nature organised a webinar within the Interreg SUDOE Fleurs Locales project, to present part of the work that was carried out for more than two years on native seeds and their use in environmental restoration. The event, which was attended by nearly 200 participants, also discussed other experiences in the recovery of degraded areas and the future of these seeds once this project is concluded.

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La entrada Close to 200 attendees for the webinar Restoration with Native Seeds and Other Environmental Solutions se publicó primero en Fleurs Locales.

The San Lorenzo vegetable garden, an agro-social and integrative project in Castellón, in which Fleurs Locales is participating

aggnet12 — Mon, 03 Apr 2023 11:07:35 +0000

An agro-social project aimed at the integration of persons with disabilities is the starting point for a project that aims to revitalise the social fabric around a garden with ideas that flourish in all shapes and colours. The Terra i Dona Association, supported by grants from COCEMFE Castellón, has been working since September 2022 in a deprived area of Castellón to highlight the fundamental role of agroecology, becoming a core part of life in this neighbourhood of Castellón. And the Fleurs Locales project participates by showing the importance of caring for ecosystems by using local seeds, in this case, from the region of the Valencian Community.

The organic farming workshops include a wide range of activities: creating vegetable hedges, planting varieties from the local Valencian catalogue, making compost, constructing growing tables using pallets, vertical gardens and even setting up their own irrigation system. About 25 people with disabilities (from COCEMFE Castellón, Ateneu, Red Cross and Afanias) come twice a week to make sure everything is in order. In addition, persons from the Fundación Secretariado Gitano group and the gardening group of Caritas of the San Lorenzo neighbourhood have also been participating here.

Terra i Dona aims to create an engaging project based upon agroecology that allows anyone from the neighbourhood or from the city of Castellón to join the project and help nurture the social fabric by means of the garden.

First visit in October

Fundación Global Nature technician Jordi Domingo is responsible for visiting with and maintaining contact with this group. During his visits, he has presented soil samples used for studying biodiversity and for understanding the life present in our soils when they are cared for with plantings of native seed. He also contrasts these with other samples taken from areas where no efforts have been made and which reveal an absence of life.

In addition, a planting of native seeds was made, which have grown well and are in good shape.

Calendula arvensis y Fumaria officinalis

Vicia sativa

Diplotaxis erucoides

Sinapsis alba

La entrada The San Lorenzo vegetable garden, an agro-social and integrative project in Castellón, in which Fleurs Locales is participating se publicó primero en Fleurs Locales.

Fleurs Locales, in the leading magazine on ecology

aggnet12 — Thu, 30 Mar 2023 11:13:40 +0000

In its issue for the second quarter of the year, Spain’s magazine of reference for disseminating information on agriculture and ecology has published a cover article on the Interreg SUDOE Fleurs Locales project and the work done in the pilot projects in Spain.

Thanks to this publication, which has a national scope offering specialised reporting on ecological production, news of the project has reached an important audience interested in these issues.

La entrada Fleurs Locales, in the leading magazine on ecology se publicó primero en Fleurs Locales.

Publico, a national newspaper in Portugal, reports on the project

aggnet12 — Tue, 28 Mar 2023 11:15:26 +0000

“Indigenous wild plants benefit grape vines, but seed supply is still scarce”, ran the headline of a detailed article on the work of the Interreg SUDOE Fleurs Locales project in the national newspaper Publico.

In the article, the newspaper explained that researchers are studying the benefits of indigenous herbaceous plants in the Douro vineyards to improve grape quality. But they warn that the seed market is still almost non-existent in the country.

You can see the full article via this link.

La entrada Publico, a national newspaper in Portugal, reports on the project se publicó primero en Fleurs Locales.

Portugal’s INIAV organises a seminar in Braga to discuss native seeds

aggnet12 — Mon, 20 Mar 2023 12:18:48 +0000

The use of native plant seeds is essential for maintaining biodiversity and reducing soil erosion. This conclusion was shared at the D. Diogo de Sousa Museum, during the presentation of the project Flowers for the recovery of what is ours – native seeds for biodiversity, given within the framework of the Interreg Sudoe – Fleurs Locales project. Thanks to a meeting organized by the School of Science of the University of Minho together with the city of Braga, the project presented its highlights and one of its key objectives in Portugal: ‘To promote the use of native plant seeds in city gardens and stimulate the production of native plants’.

“In our country, we do not have enough producers of indigenous plant seeds to supply the market, and the market is not very rigorous, either. While in other countries there are companies that produce seeds of native plants, there are also companies that require such seeds for restoring ecosystems,” explains Hernâni Gerós, a researcher at the Centre for Molecular and Environmental Biology (CBMA) of the Sciences Department of the University of Minho.

Programación del webinar

Más información sobre este webinar en el artículo recogido por el periódico regional Correio Do Minho en este enlace

La entrada Portugal’s INIAV organises a seminar in Braga to discuss native seeds se publicó primero en Fleurs Locales.

Collaboration agreement with the Royal Atlantic Botanical Garden of Gijón

aggnet12 — Fri, 03 Mar 2023 12:30:32 +0000

Semillas Silvestres has signed a collaboration agreement with the Atlantic Botanical Garden in Gijón for the recreation of a mowing meadow and the installation of plots for the multiplication of its species in the Garden. This public-private venture is an example of collaboration and synergy between institutions and involves the capitalisation of the scientific results obtained in several European research projects in which both institutions have participated, and of the Interreg SUDOE Fleurs Locales project of which Semillas Silvestres is a beneficiary member.

It also involves the enhancement of plant genetic resources from the Cantabrian Mountains stored in the Germplasm Bank of Portugal and by Semillas Silvestres, for their practical application in the development of a native seed propagation system that can make possible the multiplying and scaling up of such seeds in other plant communities and institutions.

La entrada Collaboration agreement with the Royal Atlantic Botanical Garden of Gijón se publicó primero en Fleurs Locales.

Technical seminar in Pompigan on experimental multiplication of species

aggnet12 — Fri, 24 Feb 2023 12:35:27 +0000

Organised by FAB’LIM and CEN Occitanie within the Interreg SUDOE Fleurs Locales project, a group of previously selected farmers attended a technical day in Pompigan to learn about the experimental multiplication of species.

The expectations of the participants were to obtain technical information on multiplication methods and to meet farmers committed to and motivated by the biodiversity recovery project. The exchanges were extraordinarily rich, and a dynamic network of producers is being built.

In particular, the group explored the experimental multiplication of 26 herbaceous species. The afternoon, which was open to the public, was divided into three parts, with a presentation on the production of Végétal Local (presentations on the Végétal Local brand and on the importance of local plants in biodiversity recovery and production techniques), plus a visit to a plot of land.

La entrada Technical seminar in Pompigan on experimental multiplication of species se publicó primero en Fleurs Locales.

Jornada técnica en Pompigan sobre multiplicación experimental de especies

aggnet12 — Fri, 24 Feb 2023 10:40:37 +0000

Organizada por FAB’LIM y CEN Occitanie, dentro del proyecto Interreg SUDOE Fleurs Locales, un grupo de agricultores seleccionados en jornadas anteriores, estuvieron una jornada técnica en Pompigan para aprender sobre multiplicación experimental de especies.

Las expectativas de los participantes pasaban por obtener información técnica sobre los métodos de multiplicación y conocer a agricultores comprometidos y motivados por un proyecto de recuperación de la biodiversidad. Los intercambios fueron muy ricos y se está construyendo una red dinámica de productores.

En concreto, se trabajó la multiplicación experimental de 26 especies herbáceas. La tarde, abierta al público, se dividió en tres partes, con una presentación sobre la producción de Végétal Local (presentación de la marca con este nombre y del interés de las plantas locales por la recuperación de la biodiversidad y las técnicas de producción) y una visita a una parcela.

La entrada Jornada técnica en Pompigan sobre multiplicación experimental de especies se publicó primero en Fleurs Locales.

The case of native seeds in the urban park at Valencia’s Malilla Garden: evolution and outlook

aggnet12 — Wed, 25 Jan 2023 12:43:33 +0000

Do urban parks include areas dedicated to biodiversity conservation? It is not the norm, but thanks to the Interreg Sudoe Fleurs Locales project and the collaboration of Fundación Global Nature with the city council, in the Malilla Garden there are three different plots that are being used to evaluate three seed mixtures. Through monthly visits we monitor what is happening and take an inventory of the plants, as well as making a count of pollinators.

After planting in the winter of 2021-22, spring came, and we could see that the germination rate of the seeds was extremely high. We observed that the flowers attracted up to 75% more pollinators than the surrounding plots. In the summer we continued our observations and found that the plants produced seeds which were deposited on the plots.

In 2023, we will check whether the plant mixture has the capacity to reseed itself for at least one more year. Now, in the middle of winter, we see that many of the species that dried out in summer are growing back from the seeds of their parents.

What will we find in spring? We will continue to conduct a monthly inventory of plants and a count of pollinators, in order to have the most concrete results possible.

La entrada The case of native seeds in the urban park at Valencia’s Malilla Garden: evolution and outlook se publicó primero en Fleurs Locales.