http://www.ulule.com/cylindrocline/
A lost tree brought back to its home Island
Cylindrocline lorencei repatriated to Mauritius Island
About
The wonderful natural history of Cylindrocline lorencei
Thirty
years ago, a French botanist exploring the high grounds in the centre
of the island found the last surviving plants of a small tree species, Cylindrocline lorencei.
He had the insight to collect some seeds, and sent them to several
botanical gardens around the world. But none succeeded in growing them.
In the meanwhile, those last plants died, the species then being
considered extinct in the wild in 1990.
Fortunately,
the Brest National Botanical Conservatory (Brest CBN) had kept some
seeds under cold preserving conditions. Thanks to advances in both
biotechnology and in vitro culture, we succeeded regenerating entire plants in 2000. The Cylindrocline had been brought back to life!
Since it was discovered by European navigators 400 years ago, Mauritius Island’s native vegetation has lost over 97% of its original surface coverage. A number of bird species, such as the Dodo, as well as other animal species went extinct. And a lot of plant species have also disappeared.
Cylindrocline lorencei: a plant « Dodo ».
Cylindrocline lorencei
is a small tree in the Daisy family with leaves covered in fine hairs
and purple compound flowers. The wild tree was endemic to a unique area
of the world, Mauritius Island in the Indian Ocean. It is adapted to
harsh climates of mid altitude plateaus where torrential rains alternate
with strong droughts periods and where terrible cyclones occur with
devastating winds. Its woolly stem is tough but not rigid. The branches
are flexible enough to withstand fiercest storms. However even these
adaptations didn’t allow it to survive deforestation. Like the famous
Dodo bird, it eventually vanished from his home island.
The Dodo bird (Raphus cuculatus) foraging over the Latania loddigesii palm tree’s fruits, in Mauritius around 1700. Painting by Michael Rothman, 2010 © ACE Coinage , with the kind permission of the Copyright holder, for use in the CBN Brest 2014 Cylindrocline project.
Our project
Since
2011, a repatriation program to Mauritius for most threatened plant
species has been undertaken. Our aim is the return of 30 rare endemic
plant species, kept since the 1970’s in the Brest CBN’s greenhouses, to
the Robinson plant nursery (National Park and Conservation Service,
NPCS) located at the centre of the island. The repatriated plants must
go through a re-acclimatising process before to be introduced again in
their restored wildlife environment. Due to an inevitable loss during
the process, emphasis must also be given to strengthening these living
collections, since a sufficient number of individual plants is necessary
to increase the success of their reintroduction.
Among these 30 plant species being considered for repatriation, Cylindrocline lorencei is
certainly the most emblematic. Therefore, your contribution serves both
to help multiply and increase the biological stock and send 50 juvenile
plants to the NPCS Robinson plant nursery in Mauritius.
What are the fund for?
The net figure of 3 800 € covers the in vitro
multiplication, cultivating, preparing, and shipping costs of sending
the young Cylindroclines in heated airplane cargo holds. The money
gathered should allow us to send around 50 plants, and the entire
process should take about a year to complete. A breakdown of the costs
is as follows:
- 2000 € for in vitro plant multiplication made with our partner, the Vegenov Laboratory in Finistere (France). This first step enables to get sprouts issued from plant fragments.
- 500 € for cultivation and preparing the young plants in the Brest CBN’s greenhouses. Indeed before to ship them, the juvenile plants need to be strengthened. When they are deemed to be tough enough, they are placed in new pots and grouped by batches in large cardboard flats to make the great journey.
- 800 € to send them under the best possible condition (Heated cargo holds in the airplane are required for their survival during the flight).
- And at last 500 € needs to be set aside for general management of the operation trough its one year duration. Small expenditures on equipment, administrative costs, and other formalities associated with plant health will be necessary to address for the successfull acheivement of the operation.
What will we do if the amount is reached and passed?
Our
goal is not only to bring back and reintroduce a single species, but to
repatriate a wider range of up to 30 rare and threatened endemic plant
species, together with our Mauritian partners, to the island of their
origins.
If this amount is surpassed in the Cylindrocline repatriation phase, we will be happy to have you take a share in the rescue of one of the other plant species (Dombeya mauritiana, Hibiscus fragilis, Nesocodon mauritianus…) and to contribute to the physical restoration of Mauritius Island’s marvelous forests:
About the project owner
(Le Conservatoire botanique national de Brest)
Every
year, some 150 to 200 of Earth’s plant species become extinct,
vanishing forever! In 1975, the first specialized institution in the
world, dedicated to the rescue of endangered plant species was created
in France: the Brest National Botanical Conservatory. Its main mission
includes the study and rescue of most threatened plant species and their
wildlife habitats, located within the world biodiversity conservation
“hotspots”, as well as in western France.
We
work with a network of skilled and sympathetic observers, wild space
managers, state and regional agencies, international NGO’s,
laboratories, cultural, educational and university networks …
Our international action programs include: in situ and ex situ conservation
training, skill transfer to local institutions and individuals,
developing plant nurseries and conservation structures, plant inventory
and data acquisition and compilation of endangered species lists …
Our Website (in French): www.cbnbrest.frOur Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Conservatoire-botanique-national-de-Brest/208665812495645
The « Mauritius Cylindrocline return » program team
Here are the persons who join their efforts for the Cylindrocline repatriation operation:
At Brest National Botanical Conservatory, France (CBN Brest):
Bruno Bordenave (lead botanist in charge of the Mauritius program),
Catherine Gautier (in charge of the ex situ conservation department),
Sarah Cardinal (project coordinator),
Marc Gillot and Claude Le Saout (gardeners)
Stéphane Buord (scientific supervisor)
At the National Parks Conservation Service in Mauritius (NPCS):
Parmananda Ragen (scientific supervisor)
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