More than 100 critically endangered plant species in South Limburg are having a hard time due to, among other things, acidification, dehydration and eutrophication, but also because of the enormous fragmentation. Operation Peperboompje ensures that these plants are safeguarded in a sustainable way.
The project is being carried out by Bosgroep Zuid-Nederland with support from the Province of Limburg, Wageningen University and the Elisabeth Strouven Fund.
Result
One year after the start of the project, the first results are already visible. “Nodding avens is the first we reintroduced. It is back in South Limburg after 40 years and is now even growing in two different places. We also want to achieve this with 25 to 30 of this type of endangered plant species,” says Leon van den Berg on behalf of Bosgroep Zuid-Nederland.
Need
Leon van den Berg is one of the project leaders of the operation and is seriously concerned about the condition of, for example, the pepper tree or nodding avens. “The need is enormous. We are about to lose one third of our plant species in South Limburg. So we really have to do something.”
Also read: Operation Pepper Tree prevents plants from disappearing
Genetic material
The operation started one year ago. The aim of this operation is to ensure that the number of plant species is preserved. That is why the project team sows in places where the environment is in order. Another goal is to conserve and secure genetic material from some 100 rare plants, so that they can later be reintroduced into new recovery projects. “These species are on the Red List and their survival is threatened. Nature restoration is necessary to preserve them and thus also the biodiversity in Limburg.”