Collection of the juveniles.

Helix pomatia or escargot is a gastronomic delicacy for many countries (like France and Italy). The impact from overexploitation led to the depletion of the populations in Europe, this species being now listed in Appendix III of the Bern Convention and in IUCN Red List. In Moldova the Roman snail is collected from the wild and interest toward its export is very high as several companies activate. Previous research carried out on the impact of exploitation demonstrated that populations of this species are highly affected by collection for export. Most of the exploited sites had densities several times lower than in non-exploited areas and in some sites the populations have been already depleted.

The current research aims to establish an outdoor snail farm with the purpose of identifying the type of management needed for Moldova physical-geographical and economical conditions. The demonstration farm is based on a previous small scale experimental trial and will be the first step in creating the scientific basis and practical recommendations for initiating commercial snail farming in Moldova. Guidelines will be given on the necessary starting up costs and main aspects of snail rising.

In the long term, this project will add to population restoration providing the necessary market demands and decreasing the impact from collection from the wild. Considering the fast increase in the world-wide snail meat market demand and that one of the main activity of the country is agriculture, snail farming can be a promising export market niche and income generating for local farmers the country as a whole. It also can contribute with money raising for conservation activities at the local levels. The project will be carried out in close collaboration with Individual Enterprise “Mihail Butuc”, that will provide with the necessary land for establishing snail farm, contribute with human force and technical knowledge along the whole project period and during the follow up activities. Also members of local NGO “WISDOM” will be involved in the research and educational activities of the project.