Gibraltar Morocco in a joint scientific project

Since the beginning of 2003 a joint team from the General Secretary of the Gibraltar Ornithological & Natural History Society, the Gibraltar Botanic Gardens, the Scientific Institute of Rabat University and Tetouan University returned recently from southern Morocco where they carried out extensive ecological surveys as part of GIBMANATUR, the Interreg IIIA Gibraltar-Morocco European Union project.One of the tasks the team was involved in was investigating the distribution of a number of rare plants, and studying the possibility of propagating them in the Gibraltar Botanic Gardens. Already two new locations for a particular species formerly only know from one site, have been found. The botanical work also involves determining the status of a number of species, which is expected to result in the subsequent naming of several which are new to science.The work also involved a survey of bird distributions, and a study of invertebrates, mostly beetles, ants and land molluscs, where once again new discoveries are expected.This was the last activity in the GIBMANATUR programme, which began in 2003, but it is hoped that funds will be made available in the future for ecological and conservation work in Morocco to continue.
Jalal Nali