The Valencian PMR programme held a training visit of Madeiran expertises

The Generalitat's Valencian Plant Microreserves (PMR) programme held the last week a training visit of botanic expertises coming from the University of Madeira (Portugal), in order to know and get skills on PMR designation and management. Sónia Catanho and Rúben Paz, both belonging to the research team of Dr. Miguel Menezes de Sequeira, one of the most enthusiastic supporters of th PMRs, received information and training instructions from Drs. Simon Fos and Emilio Laguna, added by other Valencian expertises during the field excrusions. During the next months, Sónia and Rúben will finish the selection of a local network of PMR to be developed in Funchal (Madeira), where the urban development has generated a model of metapopulational, small patches of native vegetation, to be protected following the Valencian model.

Lupinus mariae-josephi has a new PMR in Valencia

The recently described new species Lupinus mariae-josephi, thought to be extinct in wild but finally re-discovered by the Generalitat Valenciana's botanist team by mid 2006, is nowadays more protected, a time the Valencian councilior of Environment (Conseller de Territorio y Vivienda) passed an Order to create a new Plant Microreserve named 'Lloma del Tramussar'. This one is the PMR nr 259 and it is compound of well-conserved steppes of Sparto Grass (Stipa tenacissima L.) and enclose the first re-discovered population of the Valencian lupin L. mariae-josephi. The PMR sizes 20 ha, and also encloses populations of several interesting endemic species like Urginea undulata subsp. caeculi.