10 October 2019

The 70th edition of Flormart, the international exhibit that hosts the most important operators in the floriculture and horticulture sectors, took place in Padua on September 26-28. The exhibit usually includes education and training activities that involve all the sectors related to the “green world”.

In this context, the Italian Committee for Public Green organized the workshop “Invasive alien species and conservation of biodiversity” as part of the events planned by the Ministry of Environment of Italy (MATTM) and the National System for Environmental Protection (SNPA) on September 27.

Following the opening by Massimiliano Atelli (President of the Committee), Carlo Blasi (Italian Botanical Society) presented the state of the art of alien flora in Italy.

Piero Genovesi (ISPRA) discussed difficulties and progress in the implementation of the EU Regulation on invasive species and experiences gained from the Life ASAP project.

Lorenzo Lazzaro (University of Florence) and Raffaella Frondoni (Sapienza University of Rome) presented two concrete cases of eradication and control of Carpobrotus species in the Tuscan archipelago (Resto con LIFE) and in the Ponziane islands (Life PonDerat), respectively.

Finally, Nada Forbici (Assofloro) highlighted the great interest of the floriculture sector for active participation, and the urgent need of major and constant exchange of information among institutions, academics and operators.

The workshop was an important occasion to create connections among different stakeholders and highlight criticalities in actual management of invasive species.