OPTIMA Newsletter 38

O P T I M A N E W S L E T T E R O P T I M A N E W S L E T T E R O P T I M A N E W S L E T T E R
were discussed, and pertinent recommendations
were made to the new Council. The mandates of
all OPTIMA Commissions were renewed for a sixyears
term, with only two changes. As proposed
by the Commission for the Conservation and Sustainable
Use of Plant Resources its name was
changed to Commission for Threatened Plants.
And the Programme Committee for the XII OP-
TIMA Meeting, that had fulfilled its mandate, was
supplanted by the new And the Programme
Committee for the XIII OPTIMA Meeting.
In 2008, the Board approved the annual report
and the financial report for 2007, submitted
by the Secretary on behalf of the President and
the Executive Council.
EXECUTIVE COUNCIL
In 2004 the Executive Council approved the
Prize Commission’s nominations for the award of
the OPTIMA Silver Medals.
At its meeting held at the XI OPTIMA
Meeting in Belgrade, the Council decided to
submit the following recommendations to the
International Board:
Location of the XII OPTIMA Meeting. The
Council studied the invitation received from Pisa
and recommended that the Board accept it.
Establishment of a new Commission on
Mediterranean Herbaria. Fennane proposed the
creation of a network of herbaria for the Mediterranean
region and the creation of a herbarium
information system linked to the Herbarium
Mediterraneum. The objectives of the new Commission
would be to establish links and coordinate
activities between herbaria, such as information
concerning availability of holdings, the presentation
of herbarium specimens on the internet or
lobbying for the network. These activities should
follow GBIF standards. The Council, subject to the
Board’s assent, designated Gianniantonio Domina
and Mohammed Fennane as Secretary and
President, respectively.
Programme Committee. The Council recommended
that the Programme Committee of the
XI OPTIMA Meeting be disbanded, with thanks for
services rendered, and that a new Scientific Programme
Committee for the XII OPTIMA Meeting
be established.
Acting upon a proposal from the Commission
for Fungi, the Council approved the nomination
of Boris Ivančević and Cvetomir Denčev as
new members of the Fungi Commission.
The Council decided that the OPTIMA
membership fees for 2005 be kept unchanged.
In 2005 the Council approved the themes
for the twelve symposia of the XII OPTIMA Meeting
to be held in Pisa, Italy in 2007.
In 2006 the Council decided to maintain
the OPTIMA membership fees for the year
2006 at their current rate. The Council also
appointed the organisers of the twelve symposia
of the XII OPTIMA Meeting to be held in
Pisa, Italy, in September 2007.
In 2007, a new Executive Council was appointed
by the new International Board. It approved
the members proposed for the OPTIMA
Commissions and Committees for the period
2007-2013 and confirmed the themes for Symposia
to be held at the XIII OPTIMA Meeting, selecting
suitable organisers for each or, when none
was at hand, defining the responsibility for their
selection. It also decided to raise the OPTIMA
fees, which starting from the year 2008 are expressed
in Euros rather than Swiss Francs, the
amount being unchanged.
SECRETARIAT
The Secretariat was transferred from Madrid
to Palemo in fall 2007. Here and there, it was
active managing OPTIMA’s accounts and the
accounts of the Publications Commission and
Prize Commission. It also managed the membership
files and the distribution and sale of OP-
TIMA’s publications. The OPTIMA Secretariat
worked as a liaising center for the Council and
Board members and the working groups and
commissions of our Organization.
May 2009 OPTIMA Newsletter No. 38 11