An agreement has been formalized in order to improve the protection of this river species
On last June 7th Rewilding Apennines and the municipality of Borrello signed a memorandum of understanding to manage the breeding center of the white-clawed crayfish.
This keystone species of river environment is endemic of Central Apennines (Austropotamobius italicus meridionalis) and it is endangered mainly because of the crayfish pest, the competition with other alien crayfish species, the habitat fragmentation, all aggravated by the climate change.
In the Nature Regional Reserve and WWF Oasis Cascate del Verde, managed by the municipality of Borrello, there is a breeding center of crayfish that was built thanks to some Life projects designed and coordinated by the biologist Tommaso Pagliani aimed at the species conservation. Thanks to the agreement between the municipality and Rewilding Apennines, this breeding center will return to full function for the reproduction of crayfish, in order to release them in the future into feasible rivers, which have been already identified through a feasibility study. Moreover, some dissemination and education initiatives about the species and its habitat will be dedicated to the communities and tourists. The local staff with specifies competencies will be involved to manage all these activities.
“We are happy that a new piece to rewild the rivers and in favor of the white-clawed crayfish has been added”, the Rewilding Apennines team leader declared. “Now it will be possible to work on the ground to contribute to achieve the ambitious goal of making our rivers wilder!”.
