The Conservatoire Botanique National Méditerranéen of Porquerolles (CBNMed) celebrated its 40th anniversary on the island of Porquerolles on September 24, 2019!
Created in 1979 in the island of Porquerolles, within the Port-Cros National Park, the Conservatoire Botanique celebrated its 40th anniversary. The event was held in the island of Porquerolles with lectures in the morning on the wild flora by all scientific partners (academics, CNRS, INRA, managers of Natural Parks) and also a conference on olive tree and climate change. After the lectures, guided visits were organized to the seed bank of wild flora and the conservation nurseries.
This day was an opportunity to gather all the people who used to hold the position of Director of the Conservatoire from 1979 to 2019: Louis Olivier, creator of the Conservatoire Botanique and former director of the Port-Cros National Park, Jean-Pierre Henry, François Boillot and Sylvia Lochon-Menseau the current director.
Photo by HUYNH-TAN B.
Photo by DECLERCQ MJ.
Photo by MEDAIL F.
Short reminder on the mission of CBNMed
The Conservatoire Botanique of Porquerolles was created in 1979 and was approved as Conservatoire Botanique National in 1990; it is one of the first Conservatoire Botanique approved by the State after that of Brest in 1987. The National Botanical Conservatories are scientific institutions. The Conservatoire Botanique National Méditerranéen of Porquerolles (CBNMed) is a public institution, approved by the Ministry of the Environment. The administrative management of CBNMed is ensured by the Port Cros National Park.
In accordance with its ministerial approval, the CBNMed develops four major missions:
- inventorying and knowledge of the native flora and habitats,
- conservation of rare or threatened flora
- consulting administrations and communities
- dissemination of knowledge (information to various audiences and stakeholders).
Organized around several areas: knowledge, conservation, expertise and information systems (GIS, Database), it carries out its missions in the Departments of Var, Bouches du Rhone, Alpes Maritimes, Vaucluse for the region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (PACA) and in the Departments Hérault, Aude, Gard, Lozère and the Eastern Pyrénées for the Occitan Region.
The territory under the responsibility of CBNMed has a great plant diversity with nearly 6,000 taxa of vascular plants and around 1,000 taxa of bryophytes after a first assessment of their diversity. This diversity is a real challenge both from the point of view of knowledge, with a long-term inventory conducted in collaboration with many interlocutors, and from the point of view of conservation (with, for example, nearly 290 species protected under national regulations, 654 species listed in Red Lists, 34 species included in the Appendices of Habitats Directive).
Article by Lara DIXON and Sylvia LOCHON-MENSEAU, CBNMed
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