Agrobiodiversität in Deutschland - Genres

18 | Johannes Engels
From the earliest conservation and use activities
of genetic resources until today
zugänglich zu machen, einschließlich der Erlaubnis, genetische Ressourcen
nach vorherigem Einverständnis zu sammeln. Das Übereinkommen führte das
Konzept des Zugangs zu genetischen Ressourcen und des gerechten Ausgleichs
der aus ihrer Nutzung entstehenden Vorteile ein. Dieses wurde im Internationalen
Vertrag zu Pflanzengenetischen Ressourcen (ITPGRFA (2004)) weiter
ausgearbeitet. Der Internationale Vertrag etablierte das „multilaterale System
für einen erleichterten Zugang zu pflanzengenetischen Ressourcen“ für annähernd
35 Nutzpflanzen- und ca. 30 Grasarten unter staatlicher Kontrolle und
Management.
Schlussfolgernd waren, nach den heutigen gesetzlichen Standards und Regelungen,
sowohl von Humboldt als auch Vavilov Biopiraten. Wie dem auch sei,
wir können froh sein, dass sie ihre Forschungen durchgeführt haben, da diese,
direkt oder indirekt, zur Entwicklung des Konzepts der Genbanken beigetragen
und schließlich zur Gründung einer der ersten Genbanken weltweit geführt
haben - und das vor fast hundert Jahren! Heute können wir sagen, dass Genbanken
ein sicherer Hafen für genetische Ressourcen sind. Wir müssen aber
sicher stellen, dass ihre bedeutende Rolle nicht durch restriktive und/oder komplizierte
gesetzliche Regelungen untergraben wird.
Introduction
The 20 th anniversary of the national Information and Coordination Centre
for Biological Diversity (IBV) of the Federal Office for Agriculture and Food
(BLE) is indeed an opportune moment to reflect on the developments with
respect to agricultural biodiversity in Germany and beyond, to assess the
current situation and to make a projection into the future. The author is
grateful to have been invited to this Symposium and to jointly with key
players in Germany celebrate this memorable event. Having been closely
related to and to a certain degree even involved in the developments of the
conservation and sustainable use of plant genetic resources for food and
agriculture (PGRFA) over the past 30 years or so, and having been a staff
member of Bioversity International (and its predecessor institutes IPGRI
and IBPGR), one of the centres of the Consultative Group on International
Agricultural Research (CGIAR), I would like to place my appreciations for
the PGRFA activities in Germany and the contributions to the international
PGRFA system.
To be mentioned here in particular are the substantive contributions since
the mid-eighties to the Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture
of the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations
(FAO), it’s International Undertaking and its successor the International
Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture; since the early
nineties to the Convention for Biological Diversity (CBD); the early decision
of Germany during the first part of the seventies to contribute to the
establishment and operation of two international genebanks in Costa Rica
and Ethiopia through the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit
(GIZ, previously GTZ) with the support of the Federal Ministry
for Economic Cooperation (BMZ). At the national level, largely through the
active engagement and coordination of the IBV, Germany has developed an
exemplary national programme on the conservation and sustainable use of
genetic resources for food and agriculture with a clear vision and a strategic
and holistic approach, operating in a transparent and interactive manner.
For all these achievements I would like to congratulate IBV’s staff, especially
its long-standing leader Dr. Frank Begemann, and hope that this strong
organization might see many more ‘happy returns’!
The title of this presentation includes a rather rhetoric question with regard
to PGRFA and in a certain way this question reflects the political developments
that took place since PGRFA got onto the scientific and political agenda
during the second half of the last century. Therefore, it is a challenge and
an honour to address this question and I will try to deal with the major aspects
and dimensions in answering. I should mention that my deliberations
will be somewhat biased towards plants as they have been the mainstay of
my own experiences but possibly are also the sector of genetic resources that
certainly politically have been the fore riders. It should also be noted that
the views expressed are my personal ones.
The presentation will address the domestication of plants, the origins of
agriculture and the role of farmers in this evolutionary process. It will then
deal with the centres of diversity and germplasm movement. The relationship
between genetic diversity and plant collectors, including the role and
Johannes Engels | 19