LIFE SNAILS participates in the 2nd LIFE VIDALIA technical workshop: Invasive Exotic Flora

Oct. 13, 2022

The Regional Secretariat for the Environment and Climate Change held another LIFE VIDALIA project technical workshop, entitled Invasive Exotic Flora: Species Diversity, Geographical Patterns, Control Methodologies and LIFE Conservation Projects, an event that took place in the city of Horta, on the 4th of October.

LIFE SNAILS was present at this meeting with the presentation “Reducing habitat fragmentation on the island of Santa Maria”, in which the most problematic invasive species in the intervention areas, such as Pittosporum undulatum and Hedychium gardnerianum, were made known. These species are distributed throughout the Pico Alto region in the form of extensive mosaics that cause significant changes in the landscape in an unnatural matrix, with punctual nuclei of native vegetation separated from each other, which leads to a reduction in the total area of the available habitat for the target species.

The decrease of the most natural areas originate "islands" leading to a successive progression of invasive species.

Examples used in the control methodologies of these species were also shared, namely mechanical, chemical and manual control.