20/05/2011

The Organizing Committee for the constitution of the Italian “Fondazione Archeologia Arborea” will present this plant conservation initiative during a public event that will take place in Milan on 24 May.

The main assets of this Italian foundation will be the valuable collection composed of more than 450 traditional fruit trees, most of them unavailable in any other place. The objectives of the foundation will be to support the maintenance and the exchange of the genetic resources of the collection located in San Lorenzo, in the Umbria region (Italy).The collection includes varieties of apples, one of the 64 crops listed in Annex 1 of the International Treaty. T

he new foundation will showcase the collection through the organization of open days and other public knowledge and advocacy activities, including the study of the varieties in the collections and a better cataloguing.

During the event it will be the presentation of the book “Rediscovered fruits: 100 old and rare varieties to rescue” written by Isabella Dalla Ragione and published in Italian as a contribution to the general knowledge on conservation of that unique biodiversity heritage.