Life Minnow

Life Minnow, "Small fish, small streams, big challenges: conservation of endangered species in tributaries of the upper Po river", is a project co-funded by the European Union's Life Programme 2021-2027 and coordinated by the Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology of the University of Turin. The project aims to reverse the population decline of six small freshwater species protected by the Habitats Directive 92/43/EEC (South European nase, Italian nase, Italian riffle dace, European bullhead, Italian golden loach and Po brook lamprey) through the implementation of interventions aimed at eliminating or counteracting the main threats to the target species in the secondary basin of the upper Po. These interventions include the restoration of connectivity in 21 water bodies through the removal of 17 barriers to enable fish passage and migration; habitat improvement in 13 strategic points; repopulation and reintroduction of some of the target species through ex situ reproduction in fish hatcheries; and control of allochthonous species, including the Wels Catfish, in 20 Natura 2000 sites in the Piemonte Region. An innovative aspect of the project is the reuse of the allochthonous biomass resulting from the removal operations, which will be supplied to a feed company for the production of pet food. The project will allow the involvement of different stakeholders in the local community, including fishermen, students and citizens, thus expanding the network of volunteers involved in the conservation of these species. In addition, the project will develop and adopt specific conservation measures and river continuity guidelines for their long-term conservation, as well as provide data to update the measures of the Po River Basin Management Plan under the Water Framework Directive. Together with the University of Turin, several partners are involved in the project: Istituto Delta Ecologia Applicata, Città metropolitana di Torino, Politecnico di Torino, Provincia di Cuneo, Provincia di Vercelli, Ente di Gestione delle Aree Protette del Po Piemontese, Provincia di Alessandria.