As part of the project Conserving wild plants and habitats for people in the south and east Mediterranean" (IPAMed), a national workshop on Important Plant Areas (IPAs) organized by the "l'Institut National Agronomique de Tunisie (INAT)" in collaboration with the "l'Unité de Recherche Biogéographie, Climatologie Appliquée et Dynamique Erosive (BICADE)" and IUCN-Med took place in Tunis (Tunisia) on June 1-2, 2016.

The main objective of this workshop was to bring together botanists and Tunisian flora experts to review and update the IPA network of Tunisia, which were identified in a study that took place in 2010 and that what published by Radford et al. in 2011.

Thirteen IPAs were identified and described during this study. Additionaly, thirty other were identified but they were not included in the IPA network due to lack of field surveys and updated data. Since 2010, ongoing research studies, additional data and meetings have allowed the inclusion of new IPAs, located in the Mediterranean part of Tunisia.

Indeed, ten new IPAs were identified and the results of this meeting are currently used by the CEPF (Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund) in the 2016 update of the Ecosystem Profile for the Mediterranean hotspot. The updated Ecosystem Profile (2017-2021) will identify priority sites able to obtain funding from CEPF for conservation measures for the coming years.

Participants to this meeting have expressed the importance of having regular national meetings to promote and ensure plant conservation actions and enhance the knowledge of Tunisian plants species. For that reason a second national meeting will take place in 2017, where botanists will present and share the results of their research.

A field trip to Dyr El Kef IPA and Ain Zana IPA took place on the last day of the meeting. Thanks to Hasnaoui Brahim, El Mokni Ridha, Rouz Slim and Belaifa Emna, it was possible to discuss in situ the management and the main threats to both IPAs. Several endemic and rare plant species from Tunisia were also recorded during this field trip.

It was very satisfying to see that a new generation of botanists is assured in Tunisia and that there is a strong collaboration between research institutions and land managers.

IUCN acknowledge the great work that Mrs. Ghrabi Zeineb had done to organize this successful meeting.

The workshop and the field trip were a great networking opportunity for all participants. IUCN would also like to thank the BICADE Department led by Amor Ghrabi and the team of PhD students and post- doctorate who worked hand by hand with Zeineb to organize this meeting.

For further information: Teresa Gil 

Photo: BICADE