Over the summer, the Santa Maria Environment and Climate Action Service (SAACSMA) collected seeds and produced plants to reinforce endemic populations on the island or to sow directly in some of the intervention areas of the LIFE IP AZORES NATURA project.

These actions resulted in 2.5kg of seeds of the species Plantago coronopus, Daucus carota, Atriplex prostrata, Crithmum maritimum and Festuca petraea being made available, ready for direct sowing at Ponta do Castelo. Ammi seubertianum was also sown at SAACSMA, resulting in 560 plants ready for planting at the same location. In addition, the Santa Maria Forestry Services maintains 35 Crithmum maritimum plants from the Faial Botanic Garden destined for planting at Ponta do Castelo.

During October, SAACSMA began propagating various species in the greenhouse, such as Ammi seubertianum, Azorina vidalii, Crithmum maritimum, Euphorbia azorica and Lotus azoricus, following the protocols of the Faial Botanic Garden. In addition, the seeds of Euphorbia santamariae and Limonium vulgare were sent to the Faial Botanic Garden for propagation.

All this work is part of actions C3 and C6.1 of the LIFE IP AZORES NATURA project, ‘Implementation of pilot conservation works for the conservation of endemic flora’ and ‘Restoration of habitats for seabirds’, respectively.