The islands of the Southwest Indian Ocean are recognized worldwide for the richness of their unique and vulnerable biodiversity. Anthropization remains the main cause of habitat degradation, extinction and species scarity. Reconquering this natural heritage is an ecological, societal and cultural emergency. However, the desire to act of conservation actors is based on a good knowledge of the ecology of native plant species and multiplication methods.
Disseminating this knowledge means giving everyone the means to act concretely for the restoration of ecosystems.
Antoine FranckEntomologist at Cirad and co-author of the book
A practical guide to conserving plant biodiversity
The book Reconquering the plant biodiversity of the southwestern Indian Ocean*, published by Quae on April 29, 2026, provides an operational response:
- 100 practical sheets;
- concrete solutions to remove the locks on the multiplication of species;
- 30 years of capitalized scientific data.
This practical guide is thus a toolbox for actors involved in the different levels of biodiversity conservation. It contributes to the dissemination of ecological and physiological data, capitalized for more than thirty years by the Cirad of Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean basin. It comes in the form of multiplication route sheets for 100 native species and integrates strategies to overcome the main obstacles encountered at each stage of the process.
Eric Rivière, an ecologist at Cirad and co-author of the book, is a specialist in the reproduction strategies of Reunion plant species. His work focuses on the valorization and multiplication of native plants: the objective is to better understand their biology, including the viability of seeds, the optimal conditions of germination under controlled conditions and the development of young plants, then grown in a nursery in order to contribute to the ecological restoration and preservation of local biodiversity.
source : cirad
