Format: ORAL

Mauro Fois1; Alba Cuena2; Gianluigi Bacchetta1; Simonetta Bagella2; Giulio Barone3,4; Leanne Camilleri5; Katia Debono5; Gianniantonio Domina3; Sandro Lanfranco5; Maria Panitsa6; Salvatore Pasta7; Angelo Troia8; Lorenzo Lazzaro9; Pere Fraga-Arguimbau10; Richard V. Lansdown11; Ioannis Bazos12; Pietro Minissale13; Toni Nikolic14; Charalambos S. Christodoulou15; Costas Kadis16; Imtinen Ben Haj Jilani17,18; Amina Daoud-Bouattour18; Serge D. Muller19; Adriano Stinca20; Christini Fournaraki21; Miquel Capó22; Antoine Gazaix23; Necmi Aksoy24; Katia Diadema25

1 University of Cagliari, Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, Cagliari, Italy 2 University of Sassari, Department of Chemical, Physical, Mathematical and Natural Sciences 3 University of Palermo, Department of Agricultural, Food and Forest Sciences, Palermo, Italy 4 NBFC, National Biodiversity Future Center, Palermo, Italy 5 University of Malta, Department of Biology, Msida, Malta 6 University of Patras, Department of Biology, Patras, Greece 7 Institute of Biosciences and BioResources, National Research Council, Palermo, Italy 8 University of Palermo, Department of Biological, Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technologies (STEBICEF), Palermo, Italy 9 University of Florence, Department of Biology, Florence, Italy 10 Jardí Botànic Marimurtra, Fundació Privada Carl Faust, Blanes, Girona, Spain 11 IUCN SSC Freshwater Plant Specialist Group, Gloucestershire, UK 12 National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Department of Biology, Panepistimiopolis, Athens, Greece 13 University of Catania, Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, Catania, Italy 14 University of Zagreb, Department of Biology, Zagreb, Croatia 15 Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment, Lefkosia, Cyprus 16 Frederick University, Nature Conservation Unit, Nicosia, Cyprus 17 Université de Carthage, Institut National Agronomique de Tunisie, Tunis, Tunisie 18 Université de la Manouba, Biogéographie, Climatologie appliquée et Dynamiques environnementales, Manouba, Tunisie 19 Université de Montpellier, CNRS, IRD, EPHE, Institut des Sciences de l’Évolution (ISEM), Montpellier, France 20 University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Department of Environmental, Biological and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technologies, Caserta, Italy 21 Mediterranean Plant Conservation Unit of Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Chania (CIHEAM-MAICH), Crete, Greece 22 Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Centro para la Conservación de la Biodiversidad y el Desarrollo Sostenible, Madrid, Spain 23 Tour du Valat, Institut de recherche pour la conservation des zones humides méditerranéennes, Arles, France. 24 Duzce University, Department of Forest Botany & DUOF Herbarium, Duzce, Türkiye 25 Conservatoire botanique national méditerranéen de Porquerolles, Hyères, France.

In the Mediterranean Basin, the conservation of plants faces critical challenges due to the historic and ongoing impacts of human land use, placing biodiversity under pressure. This issue is particularly pronounced on islands, where the intrinsic fragmentation of freshwater environments is exacerbated by the limited land area. Consequently, island wetlands, which are generally smaller than their continental counterparts, are more fragile and often overlooked in conservation efforts. Therefore, addressing the need for improved knowledge of wetland plants occurring on islands is a crucial objective that remains largely unresolved. Challenges persist, including cryptic taxonomy within certain genera, and there is still a need for a comprehensive overview of the diversity, distribution and conservation status of these plants. These knowledge gaps contribute to policy and management shortcomings, hindering effective conservation or recovery efforts. This study seeks to bridge these knowledge gaps by compiling information from local experts on wetland vascular plants occurring on the approximately 10,000 Mediterranean islands and islets. Our work presents and discusses the preliminary results of a checklist of over 200 wetland vascular plants of conservation interest. Remarkably, 20% of these species are globally endangered, 50% face threats on at least one island, and available information is inadequate to assess the conservation status of 30%. The insights provided in this study can support parallel initiatives, such as the Red List Index of Mediterranean wetland plants. Moreover, they can serve as a reference for planning targeted conservation actions and fostering public awareness about plant diversity in Mediterranean island wetlands.