Financed under the Interreg V-A Italy Malta 2014-2000 programme, the 1.8 million euro SiMaSeed project formally kicked off on 1 March 2018. Four partners were involved, namely the University of Catania, the University of Malta (UM), the Dipartimento Regionale Sviluppo Rurale e Territoriale and the Ministry of Gozo.
The SiMaSeed project whose acronym derives from the project title 'Protecting biodiversity in Sicily-Malta Natura 2000 sites through Seed Banks and population reinforcement' formally came to an end on 27 October 2021.
"The project could not have been possible without the assistance of the Head of Department, Dr Sandro Lanfranco, the constant presence of technical staff and several French interns who joined the project during the summer of 2021," said Professor Buhagiar, the project leader.
On 26 October, the project was rewarded with the Illuminator Category of the Malta Climate Action Awards, "A happy ending indeed! The close of the project has been a memorable date in more than one way. It has been a long journey." said Prof. Buhagiar.
"SiMaSeed had a number of important objectives related to the principal aim of biodiversity protection in Natura 2000 sites in Malta and Sicily. These included the setting up of two new seedbanks, one in Gozo and the other at the Department of Biology within the University of Malta, for which over EUR 240,000 were spent on the purchase of specialised equipment and laboratory upgrades. The seedbank at the Dipartmento di Scienze Biologiche, Geologiche e Ambientali were likewise upgraded with new equipment," he continued.
The project coordinator at UM stated that the seed banks not only serve as repositories of seeds of different plants including rare and endangered species, but also to carry out important scientific work related to seed germination, ecophysiology and morphocolorimetric variations in different populations to mention just a few. Most of the seeds germinated at the seedbank were grown on to form seedlings that could be transplanted in the wild. A nursery had to be set up for the purpose. Indeed, these were yet two other primary objectives.
Four Natura 2000 sites in the Maltese Islands, three close to the southwest coastal cliffs and one more inland, were chosen for site rehabilitation first by a thorough site assessment to identify constraints to population reinforcement especially the presence of invasive alien species.
Professor Buhagiar highlighted the fact that "these invasives had to be removed with considerable effort before the sites could receive the plants for transplantation. Unfortunately, the transplantation had to be delayed by several months due to the problem of below average rainfall for the past two years but at the end of September of this year, the rains thankfully came in buckets and we are happy to announce that plants are now showing very good signs of growth and establishment."
The project involved other deliverables including the in vitro germination of indigenous orchids, which again was successfully achieved though the actual acclimatization and transplantation still has not been achieved and further work in this regard is required.
Covid-19 was a source of several delays and on many occasions, a change of plans had to be affected. Visits and exchanges had to be cancelled but finally a much-awaited training course for technical staff and professionals involved in seed banks and habitat restoration, was also held online.
The project outputs were presented at two important conferences, namely the Society for Ecological Restoration conference in June and the 3rd Mediterranean Plant Conservation Week in September of this year, with several papers submitted for publication.
