Important Plant Areas in central and eastern Europe

In 2002, Plantlife International and partners in seven countries in central and eastern Europe received funding from the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature Management and Food Quality through the PIN/MATRA Funds of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, to co-ordinate the compilation of Important Plant Area (IPA) inventories in seven central and eastern European countries. The project was completed in 2005 with the publication of the report Important Plant Areas in central and eastern Europe.

The publication contains details of the sites, threatened species and habitats, threats and protection status, and provides an analysis of the most relevant policy areas for plant conservation in Europe.

The IPAs identified across the participating
countries ©Nigel Hawtin

For example, Pietrosul Brostenilor, in Romania, is the only site in the world containing the globally threatened Andryala levitomentosa. A further 98 other IPAs contain globally threatened species. Poor forestry activities, unsustainable tourism development, agricultural intensification and land abandonment, water management, infrastructure development and invasive species are major threats to these priority areas and need to be targeted at the local, national and regional level.

Hundreds of specialists from universities, government agencies and NGOs were involved in the three-year site selection project and the challenge now is to use this information to target on-the-ground conservation priorities and to provide essential information for better policy and legislation. Other countries in Europe and different parts of the world are also developing their IPA programmes.

Participating countries and lead partner organisations

Countries that have identified their IPAs (dark green) and those which are developing an IPA programme (light green) ©Nigel Hawtin

Belarus:
IUCN Office for Russia & CIS, Moscow; Institute of Experimental Botany, National Academy of Sciences, Minsk