About Plant Micro-Reserves

The Plant Micro-Reserves (PMR) constitute a relatively recent concept and a novel approach for the conservation and management of plant populations of threatened and rare species. The PMR concept was first developed around 1990, in the Region of Valencia (Spain) by Emilio Laguna and was originally put into practice in 1994 within the framework of an EU-funded LIFE project.

PMRs are legally defined areas of a small surface (less than 20 ha) which, ideally in the form of a network, aim (1) to protect a selected sample of each of the main populations of the rarest, endemic or most threatened species and at the same time (2) establish a continuously monitored network in order: to achieve a representation of plant biodiversity richness, to facilitate understanding of the long-term changes of endemic-rich or relict plant communities, to provide germplasm to the regional, wild plant seedbanks, and to develop into focal points for the ongoing, plant conservation activities (re-introductions, reinforcements, translocations, in situ management etc.). Such a patchy network of small protected areas should be considered as a tool complementary to the generally adopted «large site» strategy that has recently materialised into the European Network of nature conservation, NATURA 2000.

During the past decade, the PMR concept has received a wide recognition and appreciation throughout the European continent; however, apart from the extended network currently deployed in Valencia, PMRs are only scarcely implemented in other, floristically rich areas.

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References