Originally published on cgiar.org by:Bioversity International on May 18, 2008
Rome, Italy
A Global Portal that offers a wealth of information on wild relatives of crops will be launched on 20 May in Bonn, Germany at the 9th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity. By making such information widely accessible the Crop Wild Relatives (CWR) Global Portal will contribute to more effective conservation and sustainable use of wild relatives through better-informed decision making by policymakers, researchers and conservationists. The portal is part of a five-year project with five countries -- Armenia, Bolivia, Madagascar, Sri Lanka and Uzbekistan -- implemented by Bioversity International with funding provided by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and implementation support from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

Crop wild relatives are a vital weapon in the fight for global food security. Wild relatives of plants such as potato and wheat contain genes that confer resistance to devastating pests and diseases or permit them to survive extreme drought and temperatures. These traits can be bred into crops to confer those essential characteristics as well and others such as enhanced nutritional quality. Crop wild relatives will be an increasingly important line of defence in helping adapt crops to changing climatic conditions.

"Climate change, increasing demand for food and increasing prices for fossil fuels make it more urgent that we conserve crop wild relatives, especially in situ, under natural conditions to ensure that the evolutionary processes that result in their many beneficial traits are able to continue," said Danny Hunter, Global Coordinator of the project.

"We are launching the Global Portal at the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity precisely because it is a landmark event in the conservation of biological diversity," said Hunter. "Natural populations of crop wild relatives are at great risk, primarily from habitat loss but increasingly from climate change. To ensure their availability to enhance future agricultural yields, we must strive for effective conservation of crop wild relatives, but that is a challenge because the information about them is not readily available. The Global Portal is an important step in addressing this challenge."

The range of information available through the CWR Global Portal covers ex situ conservation, taxonomy, conservation status and distribution, relevant contacts, literature sources, latest news and photos. Information sources include the project's country partners, international partners (BGCI, FAO, IUCN, and UNEP-WCMC), and data from other countries, accessible via the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF).

"The five country partners in the project have carried out significant in situ conservation and management actions focusing on 36 genera of crop wild relatives. Establishing effective partnerships and collaborations between relevant groups and stakeholders, they have been able to set priorities, undertake national surveys and develop national inventories and databases, and have been active in public awareness and integrating material on wild relatives into national educational curricula," said Hunter. "These countries are committed to sharing this information with the international community in the hope that it increases awareness and understanding of crop wild relatives, demonstrates how to ensure their effective conservation and encourages other countries to do likewise."

Note to Editors:
The Crop Wild Relatives Project
In situ conservation of Crop Wild Relatives Through Enhanced Information Management and Field Application is being implemented in five countries – Armenia, Bolivia, Madagascar, Sri Lanka and Uzbekistan. The project is coordinated by Bioversity International with financing from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and implementation support from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

Additional funding from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ); co-funding from all partners.

For further information, contact Danny Hunter (Project Coordinator)
Tel: +39.066118316 email: d.hunter@cgiar.org

www.cropwildrelatives.org

International Partners

• Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI)


• Federal Agency for Agriculture and Food (BLE), Germany


• Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)


• International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)


• UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC)