Micro-reserves are areas of reduced extension where both the autochthonous flower of the area and the substrates in which it grows are protected. The pioneering concept of flora micro-reserve was launched with Decree 2018/1994 of 18th October by the Valencian Government. Since then, more than 300 areas rich in endemic flora have been granted protection. 

Last Thursday, October 17th, the above-mentioned day was celebrated, with the intervention of the outstanding botanist and conservationist Vernon Heywood, the coordinator of the LIFE and the Unit for Eco-Innovation of the European Agency EASME, Angelo Salsi, and the biologist Joan Mayol, who wanted to thank and recognise to all the people who, throughout these 25 years, have actively participated in the conservation of the Valencian flora.

On the same Thursday the 17th, two exhibitions were inaugurated that allowed the public to got to know these protected spaces better. On the one hand, Protegida Flora. 25 anys de microreserves de flora valenciana (Protected Flora. 25 years of micro-reserves of Valencian flora), in the Hort de Tramoieres Room, shows in detail what micro-reserves are, what they preserve and how this initiative is carried out with multiple aspects and how many people is dedicated to it. Thus, we will find a distribution map of the micro-reserves, the most interesting and curious numbers, some of the species currently conserved, who participates in the routine work, to which places this Valencian idea has been exported, both outside the Community and to the rest of Europe, and which projects are ongoing for the future.  

On the other hand, in the Estufa Fría, Microreserves des de l’aire (Micro-reserves from the air) is showcased, an exhibition with suggestive images made with drones that provide an unprecedented vision of these areas of special protection. Four photographers have contributed with their photographs taken within their work context. Seeing the micro-reserves from a bird's eye view will give us an idea of the hidden places in which they are sometimes found, of their reduced size and of the strong anthropic pressure to which some are subjected. 

Both exhibitions will be open to the public from 17th October 2019 to 12th January 2020 at the Botanical Garden. Free entrance to the Hort de Tamoieres Room. To access the Estufa Fría, please pay the fee entrance to the Garden.