Wild Seeds
A Mediterranean network for the regeneration of nature and community
In many areas of the Mediterranean, ecosystems are increasingly affected by soil degradation, biodiversity loss, and desertification. Native wild seeds hold immense power for environmental restoration and building resilience against climate change. However, knowledge regarding their collection and management remains fragmented.
The project “Wild Seeds for Mediterranean Rewilding: Ecological Knowledge Exchange”, co-funded by the iac Berlin | Bosch Alumni Network, comes forward to address this challenge. It connects members of both the scientific and local communities from Sicily, Puglia, Valencia and Attica, creating an international knowledge-sharing hub centred on Mediterranean nature.
The Greek Participation
Peripatos actively participates in this network, bringing a unique, socio-cultural perspective to the table. While science provides the biological answer to the problem, we seek the social one.
Focusing on Attica, and specifically on the wildfire-stricken slopes of Mount Penteli, our preliminary research highlights a harsh reality:
- The Paradox of Resilience: With 14 major wildfires over the last 40 years, nature’s clock has broken. The mountain no longer has the time it needs to heal on its own.
- The Evacuation Culture: The dominant coping strategy has turned into a perpetual flight. We are learning how to abandon the forest, not how to coexist with it.
- Ecological Grief: Urban citizens feel helpless, turning into passive observers of a disappearing landscape, and becoming emotionally disconnected from their environment.
The Seed as a Social tool
For us, wild seeds are not just biological embryos; they are carriers of memory and resilience. Shifting our focus toward native seeds requires us to share local knowledge, touch the soil and wait. It is a “slow culture” approach to a “fast burning problem”.
From Theory to the Soil
The journey of Wild Seeds has already begun:
- International Webinar (May 2026): The first open online seminar was successfully held, where Collettivo Rewild Sicily (Sicily), QG Enviro (Puglia), Connecta Natura (Valencia), and Peripatos (Attica) shared their experiences and diverse approaches of their respective regions.
- Meeting in Sicily (September 2026): Network members will meet in Palermo for an intensive workshop focused on good practice exchange and experiential learning alongside environmental experts.
- Local Actions in Attica: Equipped with the expertise we gather, we are designing participatory, social and artistic actions open to the local community of Attica, reconnecting urban citizens with the peri-urban forest.
Stay tuned for the upcoming open actions in Attica!
Photos by Heather Gill and Vince Veras on Unsplash