LIFE medCLIFFS at the 6th Viles Florides Forum in Castelló d’Empúries – Empuriabrava

LIFE medCLIFFS al VI Forum Viles Florides

About eighty people met last 31st March at the 6th Viles Florides Forum in Castelló d’Empúries, organised by Viles Florides, the Castelló d’Empúries Town Council and the Confederation of Ornamental Horticulture of Catalonia (CHOC) with the support of Terres BOIX. The audience included environmental technical staff from local councils, mayors, municipal gardeners and representatives of the plant nursery sector.

Audiència al VI Fòrum Viles Florides

6th Viles Florides Forum at Castelló d’Empúries – Empuriabrava

The Viles Florides movement is an initiative open to public and private participation that seeks to transform every corner, villages and cities in Catalonia and Andorra through the creation of urban green spaces and gardens, as well as highlighting the natural and landscape through public recognition by awarding between 1 to 5 Flowers of Honour.

 

LIFE medCLIFFS calls for increased awareness in the use of alien plants in gardening

LIFE medCLIFFS al VI Forum Viles Florides

Sònia Garcia during the LIFE medCLIFFS presentation at the 6th Viles Florides Forum

During the event, Sònia Garcia, researcher at the CSIC-Botanical Institute of Barcelona, presented the LIFE medCLIFFS project and explained Action C4, which is focused in the creation of tools for the prevention of invasive flora. This action is led by the Federation of Nursery Farmers of Catalonia (FVC) and is carried out with the collaboration of experts from the nursery sector, academia, gardening, municipal landscaping management and invasive flora management, among others. It will create different lists of recommended and not recommended plants, as well as a code of conduct for the use of alien plants in gardening that avoids the advance of invasive species.

LIFE medCLIFFS was received with interest, and it was proposed to Viles Florides to take into account the LIFE medCLIFFS lists of species in order to detect the presence of invasive species as a possible evaluation criterion in the Flowers of Honour awarding. This would be particularly interesting for assessing those landscaped areas that very close to natural areas with high ecological value.

 

We would like to thank Mr. Roger Parcerisas, responsible for the promotion of Viles Florides, and Ms. Mercè Martínez, president of the CHOC, for inviting LIFE medCLIFFS to participate in this event.

Text: Roser Melero and Sònia Garcia. Pictures: Roser Melero.