Article

Androcymbium rechingeri Greuter is a range restricted geophyte. It occurs only on sandy beaches and coastal areas in West Crete, Greece: Elafonisi islet, Elafonisi coast, Falasarna and Imeri Gramvousa islet and it has also been reported in coastal areas of Libya. A. rechingeri has been categorized as Endangered according to the IUCN Red List and the Red Data Book of Greece (1995). It is listed as priority species in Annex II of the Habitats Directive and is protected by the Greek Presidential Decree 67/81 and the Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats (Bern Convention). Μanagement actions are currently in progress with the aim to achieve Favourable Conservation Status for the species. The actions include fencing and designation of pathways in the highly touristic areas of Elafonisi and Falasarna, reestablishment of the plant population at part of Elafonisi, seed collection from all subpopulations for ex situ conservation, planning for long-term monitoring of the in situ conservation actions, and raising awareness of the residents and visitors. This work presents the results from population reinforcement of A. rechingeri started during 2016-2019, in the framework of the CARE-MEDIFLORA project at the Elafonisi coast, and continued to this day with the monitoring of the results. Moreover, the results from the germination and viability tests of the seeds samples collected from the various subpopulations of the species are presented. Finally, the various management actions that have been implemented for species conservation are described