INSR e-newsletter Edition 1 August 2016

In this first edition of the INSR quarterly e-newsletter, we share:

updates on INSR activities and growth
upcoming meetings
NASSTEC stakeholder survey
Restoration Project Spotlight: Pastures and cheese in the Italian Alps

Enjoy!

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We have been building the website with:
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A growing list of members (you!) and partners form the network of stakeholders.

We've launched a newsletter for members (you're reading it!). Please forward to your colleagues to increase membership and enrich the Network.

Plans are in the works for a special session at the SER 2017 meeting in Iguazu, Brazil.

Follow, post, comment and be in touch with INSR on social media links below:

September 28, 2016 is the deadline for the Call for Proposals for the National Native Seed Conference, Washington DC., US from Feb 13-16, 2017.

Please look for us at these upcoming meetings
to learn more about INSR.
Hope to see you!

10th European Conference on Ecological Restoration

Freising, Germany
22-26 August 2016

Seed Ecology V

Caeté, Brazil
21-25 August 2016

IUCN World Conservation Congress

Honolulu, US
1-10 September 2016

ERA 2016:
Restoring Resilience Across All Environments
Hamilton, New Zealand
19-23 November 2016

Share your voice in NASSTEC's
native seed stakeholder survey.

NASSTEC is a 4-year project to build capacity and research related to the native seed industry in Europe. Please share your input on a stakeholder survey which will guide the development of standards for native seed production, commercialization and use in the European Union. Click on the language of choice to go to the survey. English Español Français Italiano

Seed-based Restoration Project Spotlight:

Pastures for Biodiversity in the Italian Alps

Project Name: BioPa

Location: Site of Community Interest (SCI) “IT2040027 Valle del Bitto di Gerola”, Lombardy, Italy, Europe

Partners/Funding: Fondazione Cariplo (Cariplo Foundation)

Year started: 2015 (running project)

Habitat type: Semi-natural Nardus stricta alpine grassland (Natura 2000 priority habitats 6230 Species-rich Nardus grasslands)

Surface area: The SCI size is 2,458 hectares. Restoration activities cover an area of 35 hectares.

Need for restoration: Industrialized dairy production has decreased the amount of grazing which historically maintained these grasslands and the diversity of herbaceous plants. Encroachment by shrubs and trees threatens these pastures and local livelihoods which produce traditional, artisanal Bitto cheese from the milk of summer grazing. Habitat restoration is tied to local economic activity and traditional food systems.

Restoration methods: Used a horse-drawn plow to cut a slit in the sod and interseeded by hand with seed mixture of 20 species. Restoration also done by transplanting plugs and mechanical clearing of woody vegetation.

Seed sourcing: Locally collected from near the site. Some seeds were sown and grown into plugs for transplanting by Flora Conservation, a local nursery and INSR partner.

Restoration goals: Learn which restoration methods are successful for recovering diversity in Nardus stricta pastures. Connect pastures which have been fragmented by the encroaching trees and increase the area for grazing and dairy production.

Monitoring: Vegetation (cover and abundance) and insect (butterfly) diversity data from replicated plots for 1 year.

Lessons learned: Plowing and harrowing previous sowing is fundamental for seed germination and seedling establishment in Nardus grassland. Learned how much time it takes to grow seedlings to a transplantable size in a nursery setting. Further understanding is expected from the monitoring which will take place in Spring 2017.

For more information:

http://www.eliante.it/progetto/biopa-i-pascoli-della-biodivesit%C3%A0?lang=en

Contributed by: Simone Orsenigo