Gianluigi Bacchetta Honored with Golden Oak Award

Gianluigi Bacchetta, a professor of Systematic Botany at the University of Cagliari, has been awarded the Golden Oak Award. This prestigious award recognizes his 30 years of dedicated research and conservation efforts focused on the Mediterranean flora. The award ceremony took place at the International Congress on the Conservation of Flora and Habitats of the Mediterranean in Cyprus.

The Golden Oak Award is granted by the IUCN, CEPF, and GENMEDA network. It acknowledges scientists who have shown exceptional commitment to protecting the unique plant life of the Mediterranean region. Bacchetta serves as the scientific director of the Biodiversity Conservation Center and Germplasm Bank of Sardinia.

Bacchetta's extensive work includes authoring around 700 articles in international journals and contributing to 24 scientific books. Currently, he is expanding his efforts to support communities in Africa, the Near East, and South America. He also continues projects in Brazil, Mozambique, Tanzania, and Tunisia, with planned initiatives in the Balkans, Ecuador, and Togo. Emilio Laguna and Kyriacos Georghiou were also recognized for their contributions to conservation.