Specific Challenge:

Genetic resources (GenRes) play a crucial role in agricultural activities and sustainable forest management in Europe. They hold the key to the adaptation of plants and animals to a changing and more variable climate, yet their diversity remains largely underused in current breeding, farming and forest management. Conservation efforts (in-situ, ex-situ) aim to capture, preserve and make available a substantial share of these global assets. However, access to resources is often limited by the quality of the material and the information provided by the various conservation sites. With increasing concerns over biodiversity loss and genetic erosion, there is a need to step up collaborative efforts to expand and improve the preservation as well as the use of plant and animal GenRes in farming and forestry.

Scope:

A range of activities implemented by a wide range of stakeholders will seek to enhance management and use of GenRes and implement global commitments in this area. While the focus of activities is on Europe, international resources and activities shall be taken into account.

Adding value to plant GenRes (RIA)

Activities will address processes, tools and know-how associated with a dynamic management and documentation of GenRes collections (both ex-situ and in-situ, as appropriate). They will add value to the preserved germplasm to promote its use, e.g. in breeding, farming, forestry and by consumers. Work will enable the development and testing of a range of solutions to enhance quality and efficiency of operations and services across collections. Major efforts should go into capturing and characterising the genetic diversity in germplasm and revealing novel information to users. This will include acquiring comprehensive and more precise genotypic and phenotypic information on GenRes material, understanding the connections between the two, how they vary in different environmental contexts and having in place appropriate (bioinformatic) tools for data processing, exchange and visualisation. Due account shall be given to disclosing the potential of less adapted material from genebanks/in-situ conservation sites in relation to valuable traits associated with resilience, adaptability and quality of crops.

Expected Impact:

Activities will enhance the status of genetic resources and increase effectiveness of conservation efforts, in particular in Europe.

In the short to medium term work will:

• help establishing high quality, harmonised standards for the management and description of GenRes across Europe (and beyond);
• increase the quantity and quality of data in established information systems for crop, forest and animal GenRes;
• promote innovative ways of sharing resources and services between genebanks/in-situ conservation sites in Europe and beyond;
• develop methods and tools for greater insight into the characteristics and the value of collections;
• create novel services for users within and outside the conservation communities .

In the long term activities will allow tapping into the vast potential of GenRes more effectively in order to meet current and future needs of food security, the delivery of non-food products from primary production and support the different functions of forestry.