The white crowberry (Corema album) is an ericaceae that grows mainly on fixed dunes of the Iberian Atlantic coast (Galicia, Portugal, Andalusia), although a small population still survives in eastern Spain (Comunitat Valenciana), as well as a subspecies can be found (C. a. azoricum) in the Azores Islands. The white crowberry currently has small populations with a high degree of fragmentation, mainly due to the destruction of its habitat by human action and the displacement caused by the presence of plant IAS, which together with its low recruitment capacity, make it a protected species in some of the territories where it is present (Portugal, Andalusia, Comunitat Valenciana), and it has even been considered by the IUCN as a critically endangered species (CR).
The carrying out of a genetic analysis of the Iberian populations of crowberry by LIFE INSULAR will be of great interest, providing key information to support actions that improve the area of occupancy and recruitment for this species, associated with the restoration of protected insular habitats targeted by the project, in which the white crowberry is present. In this way, genetic indicators are of capital importance in the planning of the different LIFE INSULAR restoration actions, which aim at strengthening the conservation of protected island habitats, and consequently the population reinforcement of their characteristic species.
Having this information will make it possible to establish management guidelines for the competent entities, highlighting the importance of transnational coordination in shared biogeographic groups for the conservation of genetic resources at a global level.
