Repatriation and reintroduction of protected plant species – is the road to hell paved with these good intentions?

Abstract

Some theoretical and practical aspects of reintroduction and repatriation of rare species into natural conditions (populations) are analyzed in connection with the proposed All-Ukrainian Creative Children Competition "Share snowdrops with the forest – 2022", initiated by the Kyiv Ecological and Cultural Center and the All-Ukrainian NGO Living Planet. It is demonstrated here that, although plant reintroduction may play some role in species conservation, the long-term viability of most reintroduced populations has not yet been properly assessed. This initiative is analyzed in the context of existing methodological and practical aspects of the reintroduction or repatriation process. It is concluded that such initiatives are harmful and unacceptable because they threaten the genetic identity of natural populations and create conditions for potential phytoinvasions and because they violate the Ukrainian legislation.

An annotated nomenclatural checklist of endemic vascular plants distributed in the Ukrainian Carpathians

“…This species is listed in the last edition ( Kagalo and Sytschak 2009a ) and has been approved for the new edition ( MEPNR of Ukraine 2021 ) of the Red Book of Ukraine with a status ‘rare’.…”

“…This species is extinct in the Ukrainian Carpathians ( Kagalo and Sytschak 2009b , MEPNR of Ukraine 2021 ).…”