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

of fruit trees still found in gardens of farms, olives throughout the mediterranean region and
traditional cultivars of some vegetables in isolated regions. The security of such conservation is
however low. The conservation of old cultivars of fruit trees could be stimulated by monitoring
and encouraging farmers to maintain or rejuvenate such specimen. The conservation of genetic
diversity of olives will require programmes at the national and regional level. It is doubtful wether
conservation of traditional varieties of vegetables can be done reliably outside genebank
programmes. Hence instead of in-situ conservation, perhaps the objective should be to reintroduce
traditional varieties of cultivars, not as a means of conservation but as a means to widen
their availability and use in the interest of both growers and consumers. Such actions are
important in themselves in a society ruled by commercialism and ever increasing cultural
uniformity.
It is a curious phenomenon that while both the government and NGO programmes have a shared
concern to maintain genetic diversity, there actions are often carried out in an atmosphere of
distrust and competition. Government genebank managers tend to emphasize what they consider
as lack of professionalism in NGO programmes. NGO's by and large see government genebanks
as static frozen repositories of materials that threaten the control of people over their natural
heritage. It is our opinion that such conflicting views are unnecessary and even damaging and
require change. We suggest that integration of both approaches is to the general benefit and
warrant serious attention. This requires a change of attitude and structural measures to promote
a more collegial type of cooperation.
NGO's should consider Government genebanks for what they are; a means to provide security in
conserving overall genetic diversity for present and future use and provide genetic information
on such collections. Government genebanks should see NGO's as a means to promote availability
and maintenance of genetic diversity at the community level.
Jointly, government genebanks and NGO's should argue for the need of changes in present
legislation to promote rather than complicate and discourage the widest possible use of genetic
diversity. Such legislation should stimulate NGO's to make planting material of traditional
cultivars available to interested growers to increase genetic diversity. Like commercial breeding,
community programmes should be allowed recover their cost and sell their products rather than
be prohibited to do so by national and European regulations. Farmers and especially small growers
and household gardeners should, if they want to, be able to have a wider choice of planting
material than just the products of modern breeding. It is a sobering thought that past efforts of
farmers have given us almost all the crops in the form we grow them today. This should be
recognized if genetic resources are to be truly a common good.