On February 20th, the Botanical Institute of Barcelona hosted the Professional Gardening Forum, The Mediterranean Resilient Garden, an event organized by the Gardening Guild of Catalonia. It gathered different professionals in the sector in one place, focusing on sustainability, innovation, and the future of gardening.
The LIFE medCLIFFS project participated with a stand in the Marketplace area shared with “Viles Florides”. We offered all sorts of information regarding invasive plants around Catalonia and the importance of staying up-to-date and aware of this threat.
Sònia Garcia, project manager, participated in the Round table of “Plants, soil and biodiversity”. The main topics were the relationship of plants with the soil, the resilience of plants, and the practices that contribute to maintaining a healthy soil. On behalf of the LIFE project, Sònia explained several examples of invasive plant species affecting the ground directly. Regarding the soil, some species can severely alter its physicochemical properties. The Carpobrotus species are a clear example of this, as they reduce the pH through their decayed leaves. This phenomenon together with its prostrate growth, covering the soil considerably and so blocking any sunlight from reaching the ground, prevent other plant species from developing in that area. Another effect discussed was allelopathy. Some plants exude allelopathic compounds which can alter soil conditions, inhibit seed germination of other plant species, or even promote it when the season is not suitable leading to a premature death.
During the biodiversity part, Sònia commented on how using potentially invasive plants can change the dynamics of the plant community where they are planted. Bad management can also result in an ecosystem imbalance if invasive plants are not detected on time and they spread freely. Then Sònia presented the Code of Conduct and the project lists providing the life plant sector with tools to detect and avoid problematic situations.
This speech was received from different points of view but there was good support as it showed awareness by several attendees such as the “Gestió Natural” Association and the City Hall of Malgrat de Mar.
During networking time and lunch, several institutions showed an interest in the topic and visited the stand to get more information about the project, the lists and the code. By the end of the day some codes were given away and we collected the first signatures of the code.
Text and photos: Edgard Mestre
