The project, 'Conservation and sustainable use of grapevine genetic resources in the Caucasus and Northern Black Sea Region' has been developed to strengthen national programmes and to facilitate international collaboration in understanding and using grapevine diversity.

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Project goals
Background

Project goals
The main goal of this initiative is to strengthen the national capacity in the countries of the Caucasus and Northern Black Sea Region to ensure the long-term maintenance of Vitis genetic resources, including both the cultivated traditional varieties and the wild resources. Specific activities aim at identifying, collecting, characterizing and conserving the rich diversity of grapevine genetic resources throughout the Caucasus and the northern Black Sea region, as a basis to improve local viticulture and wine making industry.

Wine production, founded on knowledge-based use of genetic resources and on sustainable viticultural practices, provides a major potential source of income for the local population in the low-income transition countries of the Caucasus and the northern Black Sea region. This region is considered to be a primary centre for the domestication of grapevine, and these resources are of significant relevance to the Mediterranean basin and for the development of the European modern cultivars. The wild species, Vitis vinifera ssp. silvestris, the supposed ancestor of the cultivated grapevine, still occurs throughout this region.

Background
At the end of October 2003, 11 participants from the six countries of the region (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, Russia and Ukraine) met for the first time in Tbilisi, Georgia. This meeting was an important milestone for planning common strategies and to define priorities and the mode of operation during the next three years. The participants nominated focal persons and main partners in each country, identified priorities, and developed a joint workplan with shared tasks. These include: conservation activities; training and scientific exchange; information, documentation and communication; and genetic identification research.

In the late 1800s, the European wine industry was afflicted by Phylloxera, an insect that almost completely destroyed European viticulture. As a result, crop improvement and particularly resistance to pests and diseases, are crucial issues in viticulture. Conserving wild or traditional local material is particularly important as it contains genetic information responsible for natural resistance to major pests and diseases affecting grapevine production. As a main wine-producer, Europe has a common responsibility for the conservation of grapevine genetic resources in its old “home”, from which cultivation spread into the world.