The 22nd FAO Conference, meeting in Rome in November 1983, adopted an International Undertaking on Plant Genetic Resources which aims to ensure that “plant genetic resources of economic and/or social interest, particularly for agriculture, will be explored, preserved, evaluated and made available for plant breeding and scientific purposes.” The Undertaking, which is open to all countries, is “based on the universally accepted principle that plant genetic resources are a heritage of mankind and consequently should be available without restriction.” The Undertaking will seek to facilitate the exchange of genetic material, to promote international cooperation in the preservation, evaluation and documentation of plant genetic resources, and to establish an internationally coordinated network of national, regional and international centres, including a network of base collections of gene banks under the auspices or jurisdiction of FAO. It also provided for the establishment by the FAO Council of a new FAO Commission on Plant Genetic Resources.
The Commission on Plant Genetic Resources was established by the FAO Council at its 85th Session in November 1983 and held its first session in Rome 11–15 March 1985. It assessed the response of countries to the International Undertaking on Plant Genetic Resources. At that date 59 FAO Member Nations had agreed in principle to adhere to, or expressed support for, the Undertaking without restrictions; a further 17 expressed support, but with certain specific reservations; 8 were unable to adhere to the Undertaking; 72 had not yet replied. Sixty-six countries had agreed to be members of the Commission on Plant Genetic Resources and these included some which had not yet responded to the International Undertaking.
The Commission paid particular attention to four aspects of plant genetic resources: (1) Base collections of plant genetic resources (2) Status of in situ conservation of plant genetic resources (3) International information system on plant genetic resources (4) Training activities and training requirements in the fields of plant genetic resources, plant breeding and seed production.
FAO's Forestry Department was most directly concerned with the item on in situ conservation, for which it was responsible for preparing the Secretariat Note. Relevant extracts from the Commission's report on this item were as follows:
“Emphasizing the importance to integrate conservation with sustainable development, the Commission stressed the need to consider in situ conservation activities within the framework of overall landuse planning and within the context of prevailing socio-economic conditions. It recognized that long-term genetic integrity of conservation areas could only be ensured if, in addition to providing benefits for the future, their management helped to contribute to the present well-being of local populations through suitable compensatory measures.
Expressing concern over the fact that present efforts at national and international levels did not adequately meet the urgent needs to conserve, manage and utilize rapidly dwindling genetic resources of often unknown value or potential, the Commission recommended that efforts in this field be strengthened and that immediate priority be given to the following aspects:
raising awareness of the importance of in situ conservation among rural communities, particularly through the efforts of grass roots voluntary organizations, and among national land use planners, decision-makers and the international community;
dissemination of information: information on genetic resources should first be acquired locally and always be available locally, but as plants were no respecters of political boundaries, information needed to be compiled and disseminated at national, regional and international levels;
training: management of genetic resources was still a new subject and training at all levels should therefore be given priority;
research: most research needed to be undertaken within natural populations, and therefore should be predominantly local or national. Certain specialized research, however, could rely on facilities in institutes of international scope, e.g. taxonomy of both plants and associated animals, medicinal or chemical properties of plants. Because of the lack of knowledge on genetic diversity within many species, especially in the tropics, genecological research and ecogeographic surveys should receive high priority in genetic conservation projects.
Regarding field activities, the Commission underlined the importance of making greatest possible use of existing protected areas in in situ conservation efforts and stressed the need for thorough inventory and documentation of such areas so as to identify those areas in which in situ conservation should be promoted. It recognized that the effectiveness of protected areas for genetic conservation purposes would depend on their siting, size and management and that additional reserves would often be needed for the conservation of representative samples of the full genetic variation of target species.
The Commission noted that the conservation in situ of phytogenetic resources, of actual or potential socio-economic value, should be combined with other operations essential to their effective, overall management and sustained utilization, such as exploration, characterization and evaluation.
Recognizing that the ultimate aim of conservation was utilization, the Commission emphasized that provision in in situ reserves should be made for supervised and sustainable collection of seeds or other reproductive materials for use in particular by scientists, plant breeders and ex situ genebanks, with which the authorities in charge of in situ areas should work in the closest possible collaboration.
Acknowledging the fact that sampling of genetic diversity and methodology of in situ conservation should be based on sound, scientific knowledge and were closely related to the biology of the species in question, the Commission stressed the need for technical guidelines on in situ conservation of a number of priority species or genera; as well as pilot and demonstration field activities on specific species or groups of species. Assistance from FAO to member countries in tackling legal questions associated with the establishment and management of in situ reserves would also be welcomed.
Attempts having been made by a number of authorities to define global priorities for action in in situ conservation, the Commission acknowledged that such lists of identified species and genera, coupled with the identification of areas with a high concentration of valuable genepools and strong pressure on existing natural resources, might allow field activities in in situ conservation to be started. However, it drew attention to the fact that final decisions on priority species had to be made at the national level, and should include not only species of current economic value but also those species which were of vital importance to local communities as providers of a range of goods and services such as food, fuel, fodder, medicines, shade, shelter and land stabilization. Stress should be laid on the arid and semi-arid zones and other ecologically critical areas which presented a number of different problems in resource conservation.
The Commission recognized that, in particular, population and economic pressure led to the erosion of plant genetic material and that in general the developing countries could not bear the cost of excluding zones from the process of development, and of promoting and conserving them.
The Commission took note of on-going international activities in ecosystem and genetic resource conservation, including data collection, storage and monitoring carried out by IUCN; activities in the conservation of wild relatives of crop species by IBPGR; and programmes on in situ conservation of forest genetic resources coordinated by FAO. It welcomed information on inter-agency cooperation and the coordination of the activities of FAO, UNEP, Unesco and IUCN through the Ecosystems Conservation Group. It stressed the need for scientific, technical and financial support for national efforts carried out under an international umbrella and requested FAO to place increased emphasis on assistance to developing countries in the formulation and execution of viable projects in in situ conservation of phytogenetic resources and in the generation of funding for such projects.”
The Commission endorsed the general strategy for action at national and international levels, outlined in the Secretariat Note (paragraphs 36 to 43 of Document CPGR/85/5).
The above paragraphs recommend the establishment of national genetic resource units under an international umbrella. These units would help explore and map the distribution, vulnerability and relationship to protected areas, of the main populations of economic plants, and at the same time assess how appropriate the current management of protected areas is to the conservation of genetic resources.
Each unit should be closely linked to any existing national centre for ex situ conservation, and should have good communications with services responsible for managing protected areas. In addition to its own field operations, the unit should devote a substantial part of its time to (i) public relations, both at government and at local level; (ii) training and (iii) initiation of genetic research and monitoring within protected areas.
For wide-ranging species information gained in a given country should be supplemented by parallel information on the same species in adjacent countries.
(Full text of Secretariat Note can be made available to interested readers, at request).
Three background documents were prepared for the item on in situ conservation. They are:
FORGEN/MISC/84/1. In situ conservation of genetic resources of plants: the scientific and technical base. Based on the work of G.B. Ingram.
FORGEN/MISC/84/2. A guide to in situ conservation of genetic resources of tropical woody species. Based on the work of L. Roche and M.J. Dourojeanni.
FORGEN/MISC/84/3. In situ conservation of wild plant genetic resources: a status review and action plan. Based on work submitted to FAO by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources.
Copies are available, on request, from The Chief, Forest Resources Development Branch, Forestry Department, FAO, Via delle Terme di Caracalla, I-00100 Rome, Italy.
