Moving entire woods from one place to another to rebuild ecosystems and save plants and animals from the risk of extinction: it is the 'plant translocation' a technique that in recent decades has allowed hundreds of species to be saved from the disappearance, including animals because plants are the 'pillars' of every ecosystem.
Experts from all over the world are discussing it these days in Rome, in the first International Plant Translocation Conference organized by the Roma Tre University.
"Translocations are actions for conservation purposes, of which we now have many cases, in Italy alone in recent years just under 200 operations of this type have been performed", ecologist Thomas Abeli, from the university, told ANSA. Roma Tre and organizer of the conference.
One of the best known examples is that of the Nebrodi fir, present until recently only in a few specimens in a very small area of Sicily, but which a long work of translocation to other areas characterized by suitable habitat has made it possible to save from risk of extinction.
"Obviously it would be much better to avoid putting plants at risk of extinction but in cases like these, translocation becomes an inevitable solution," said Abeli.
From an experimental technique, in recent years the translocation has become a structured action, based on the scientific knowledge learned in the field and the objective of this first international conference on the subject aims to compare the experiences accumulated over the years all over the world.
Forced 'removals' of plants is not only an attempt to safeguard individual plant species at risk but to preserve entire populations of living species, including animals, from climate change: "we tend to be blind towards plants, we generally underestimate their importance and yet they are the basis of every ecosystem ", concluded Abeli.
