The protection and sustainable management of biodiversity – including genetic resources, species and ecosystem services that support human development – is central to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.

Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) is a set of measurable, time-bound goabls and targets adopted by world leaders at the UN Millennium Summit in September 2000; one of the MDGs explicitly deals with biodiversity (MDG 7b: Reduce biodiversity loss, achieving, by 2010, a significant reduction in the rate of loss)

The high nature value farmlands – HNVF play a major role in biodiversity protection, along with natural areas. In EU they account for one third of the total land use and host many plant and animal species of great interest for conservation purposes. In the Mediterranean region the ancient olive groves could be included in the HNVF. In fact they are extensive crops (about 50 plants/hectare) constituting one of the main elements of the mosaic of semi-natural and cultivated areas, spaced out by typical small-scale structural elements, such as Mediterranean shrublands, edgerows, dry walls, strips of woodland. They are high sensitive areas exposed to several threats risking to compromise their role in hosting biodiversity.

CENT.OLI.MED. is funded with the contribution of LIFE financial instruments of European Community (contract code LIFE07 NAT/IT/00450) (http://ec.europa.eu/environment/life/funding/lifeplus.htm) From the scientific point of view the project aims to contribute to the current studies on the identification, conservation, enhancement and management of ancient olive groves as High Nature Value Farmland habitat. Guidelines and Socio-Economic Enhancement plan are foreseen project outcomes and could be useful references for the identification of solutions aimed to halt the abandonment of internal rural areas, which is a priority for the economic policies in rural sector.

Contributions will come from 3 Associated Beneficiaries:

  • Italian Ministry of Environment (Italy),
  • Apulia Region – Councillorship for Ecology – Parks and Natural Reserves Department (Italy),
  • Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Chania (Greece)

and the following Supporting Authorities:

  • Management Consortium of Torre Guaceto State Nature Reserve (Italy),
  • Community of Organic Farmers of Torre Guaceto State Nature Reserve (Italy),
  • Prefecture of Chania – Crete (Greece),
  • Municipality of Voukolies - Crete (Greece),
  • Ioannis Malandrakis (private owner, Voukolies, Greece).

CENT.OLI.MED. implements the following activities:

  • Preliminary study on morpho-genetic and environmental characterization of the biodiversity.
  • Enhancing biodiversity through actions of re-naturalization creating micro-habitats by mean of shrubs and trees plantation, turfing and building of dry stone walls.
  • Development and implementation of guidelines to help farmers to protect biodiversity in the centuries-old olive groves.
  • Development of an economic enhancement plan of the ancient olive groves.
  • Elaboration and implementation of an innovatory governance model.
  • Elaboration of an Euro-Mediterranean action plan for the protection of ancient olive groves.