Conservation

One of Bioversity’s key research priorities is to promote the conservation, exchange and sustainable use of plant genetic resources because:

• they are the foundation of our agricultural systems
• they supply traits to improve yield, resist pests and diseases and adapt to climate change
• our ecosystems depend on them

Yet commercial farming systems, climate change  [1] and habitat destruction are all contributing to the loss of our agricultural biodiversity.

Conservation and use

Much of Bioversity’s research focuses on the conservation and use of plant resources in their natural habitat  [2] ('in situ' or 'on farm' conservation). working with smallholder farmers in developing countries. On farm conservation (or in situ conservation) protects threatened plants, such as neglected and underutilized  [3] species, and forests and trees  [4], in their natural habitats and takes into account social and cultural factors such as farmers’ knowledge. 

In addition it is important that our genetic resources are conserved in genebanks  [5] (ex situ conservation). This helps to ensure that in the future there is access to a wide range of diversity to help us adapt to challenges such as climate change which are threatening global food security.

Sharing information

Providing accessible documentation that details the characteristics of different species and varieties of plants and their genetic diversity is a critical part of conserving them for future use.  Bioversity assists countries to improve their capacity to describe, store, manage and share information about their genetic resources [more]  [6]

Access and benefit sharing

The regulation of access to genetic resources and the sharing of benefits derived from their use has become an important worldwide issue. Bioversity research examines how policies and laws affect the sustainable use and conservation of genetic resources used in agriculture [more]
  [7]

Capacity building

Bioversity works with a range of partners to provide free training materials related to conservation in topics such as forest genetic resources  [8], seed handling  [9] and in situ conservation approaches  [10][Read more]  [11]