Integration of Conservation Strategies of Plant Genetic ... - Genres

European Cooperation on Plant Genetic Resources:
Towards Phase V of ECP/GR
E.A. FRISON, M. BOLTON 1
The European Cooperative Programme for Crop Genetic Resources Networks (ECP/GR) is a
pan-European collaborative programme with the aim of fostering coordinated activities in the
plant genetic resources field; at the end of 1992 28 countries were participating. The Programme
grew out of the 1975 Helsinki conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe and began
operating in 1980 as a regional joint UNDP/FAO project with the name "European Cooperative
Programme for the Conservation and Exchange of Crop Genetic Resources". Under Phase II of
the Programme, which began in 1983, coordination was provided by IBPGR, as a special project,
and this coordinating role continued throughout the subsequent phases III and IV, with the costs
of the Programme being borne entirely by participating countries.
At the end of Phase I an evaluation mission recommended that the programme be organised
around a number of crop-specific working groups, with members selected for their expertise in
the particular species. Consequently groups were established for the following crops: Allium,
Avena, barley, forages, Prunus and sunflower. At the end of the second and third phases a
number of other crops were considered for inclusion in the programme. Beet, Brassica, Pisum
and Vitis were recommended for ad hoc action during Phase III and the implementation of
working groups for Brassica, Pisum and Vitis was recommended for Phase IV, an international
network for Beta having already been established outside the framework of the ECP/GR.
Phase IV, which began in 1990, was primarily a continuation of previous work, based on
workplans elaborated in Phase III. During the phase two of the 24 crop-specific databases
created through the ECP/GR were transferred to new hosts: the Prunus database from the Nordic
Genebank to INRA, Bordeaux, and the cultivated Brassica database from IHAR, Poland to CGN,
Wageningen. The successful conclusion of both moves is an illustration of the high level of
cooperation achieved within the ECP/GR. All the working groups were able to meet once; in
addition a new working group was established for Brassica and contacts have been made to
initiate a Pisum working group in early 1994. Phase IV was formally concluded at the end of
1992 but many parties, including all the working groups, had stressed the need for a continued
coordination mechanism and consideration was therefore given to implementing a fifth phase.
Among the achievements of the ECP/GR to date are the following:
- European Databases
1
Authors' address:
International Board for Plant Genetic Resources
Via delle Sette Chiese 142
00145 Rome
Italy