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

erosion has taken place on a large scale in the past. In fact, it remains a serious problem. In spite
of all the political rhetoric in the United Nations Rio Conference, few countries in Western
Europe have responded with giving adequate attention to the conservation of genetic resources
even today.
Systems of genetic conservation in Western Europe
Compared with other industrial countries like the US and Japan, Western Europe as a whole is
lacking behind in government support to genetic conservation. However there are signs of
improvement, not the least through recent initiatives by the European Commission. Also at the
national level there are a number of initiatives that give some cause for optimism.
Genetic conservation requires a number of activities, all concerned with a common objective, but
reaching such objectives in different ways.
Government programmes
Ex-situ genebank programmes provide a base-line activity to insure continued genetic diversity
for the purpose of plantbreeding now and in the future. Most countries have such programmes,
although there are still large differences between countries in organisation, level of funding and
standards of operation. The need for international cooperation is becoming accepted, as is evident
from the European Cooperative Programme on Plant Genetic Resources Networks (ECP/GR).
There is some way to go, but also at policy levels there appears to be increasing support for such
developments.
These programmes cover collections of seed of many crops important to European agriculture,
some crops as part of institutional genebanks but others as working collections in plantbreeding
institutes. For crops that can not be maintained as seeds, living collections are kept for roots and
tubers and as collection orchards. Also in forestry there is an increasing awareness that knowledge
of still available genetic diversity and ways of conserving such diversity, either in natural stands
or in special collection orchards is important. The limiting factor for such programmes to be
effective is not lack of institutions or know how, but rather the allocation of funding for such
programmes and institutional priority.
Non-government activities
There are a growing number of private initiatives to promote conservation and use of genetic
diversity. NGO activities are concentrated on awareness building on the important role genetic
diversity can play at the level of communities, users and consumers as a reaction to an industrial
society guided by efficiency and commercial markets. Unlike the government programmes of exsitu
genebank programmes, their objective is not support of plantbreeding, but rather to maintain
and/or make available traditional crops and cultivars to interested growers. NGO's do so by
establishing collections in seedbanks, by stimulating and organising interested growers to maintain
specific cultivars and so on.
Concluding remarks
The given title of this paper is mis-leading. It must be concluded that in Western Europe true insitu
conservation of genetic diversity of crops has been largely lost. Exceptions are old cultivars