Conservation and Use
- A farmer from Alta Verapaz, Guatemala holding an indigenous medicinal plant (Catophena chiapensis), known as bajlajche in the local Mayan language. Traditional home gardens in the tropics contain a high species diversity that mimics natural ecosystems.Credit: P. Eyzaguirre/Bioversity
The loss of biodiversity poses a serious threat to agriculture and the livelihoods of millions of people. Conserving biodiversity and using it wisely is a global imperative. Biodiversity provides the foundation for our agricultural systems. It provides the sources of traits to improve yield, quality, resistance to pests and diseases and adapt to changing environmental conditions, such as global warming.
Biodiversity is also a direct source of food for many people and is a essential part of our life support system. Without it our ecosystems, the planet's entire biosphere, cannot function.
There are different approaches to conserving biodiversity and different ways of using genetic resources.
For more information, scroll down or click on the links below.
On farm management
On farm management involves the maintenance of crop species on farm or in home gardens.
The effectiveness of strategies to maintain and use crop or livestock diversity on farms depends on the extent to which local varieties continue to meet the needs of farmers and communities. The approach taken needs to be one that is embedded in the community and reflects its values and concerns.
Many plant genetic resources, especially those of minor crops, are managed as part of agricultural production systems. This type of biodiversity conservation has been termed 'conservation through use'. There are important reasons for supporting on farm maintenance of crop and livestock diversity:
- It ensures that the ongoing processes of evolution and adaptation of crops to their environments.
- It allows for the continued selection of superior material by farmers that meets their needs and preferences.
- It helps preserve indigenous knowledge, strengthens local institutions and promotes farmers' participation in national biodiversity conservation programmes.
- It provides a necessary backup to genebank collection.
- It provides natural laboratories for agricultural research.
Bioversity's work focuses on exploring when where and why traditional varieties are maintained who maintains them and how this is done. In this way we try and identify options that can support conservation on farm and in home gardens.
For more information go to Agricultural ecosystems.
In situ conservation
In situ (=on-site) conservation and use refers to the maintenance and use of wild plant populations in the habitats where they naturally occur and have evolved without the help of human beings.
The wild populations regenerate naturally, and are dispersed naturally by wild animals, winds and in water courses. There exists an intricate relationship, often interdependence, between the different species and other components of the environment (such their pests and diseases) in which they occur. The evolution is purely driven by environmental pressures and any changes in one component affect the other. Provided that changes are not too drastic, this dynamic co-evolution leads to greater diversity and better adapted germplasm.
The conservation of the forests and other wild plant species is often carried out through, but not limited to, the designation of protected areas such as national parks and nature reserves. Bioversity's work focuses on the maintenance of the genetic dimension of the wild species, especially on forest and crop wild relatives in the protected areas and beyond to ensure that their wild populations are of sufficient diversity to allow them to adapt to the changing environments and in particular to climate change.
For more information go to Crop wild relatives.
Ex situ conservation
Ex situ (= off-site) conservation of germplasm takes place outside the natural habitat or outside the production system, in facilities specifically created for this purpose. Depending on the type of species to be conserved, different ex situ conservation methods may be used.
The importance of genebanks has increased significantly over the last several decades. As commercial agriculture has expanded many farming systems that preserved local agricultural diversity have been transformed and local varieties have been lost. Controlling powerful social and economic forces so that they do not result in genetic erosion is often not possible, certainly not in the short term. As a result, genebanks often represent the only option for conserving biodiversity.
However, ex situ conservation is not just about conserving biodiversity for its own sake. The main purpose of the collections is to ensure agricultural growth and keep our options open for innovation. In genebanks, biodiversity is managed so that breeders, farmers and researcher can use it in their work.
To make the genetic resources useful to farmers, breeders and researchers, genebank managers must carefully document the collected materials, make the information available and establish a transparent and safe system for its distribution. They should take all the steps to make the material they conserve, including germplasm enhancement, is used by breeders and other researchers for agricultural development.
For more information go to:
Complementary conservation
A complementary conservation strategy can be defined as "the combination of different conservation actions, which together lead to an optimum sustainable use of genetic diversity existing in a target genepool, in the present and future". We should not forget that the main objective in any plant genetic resources (PGR) conservation programme is to maintain the highest possible level of genetic variability present across the genepool of a given species or crop both in its natural range and in a germplasm collection.
The various conservation approaches discussed above have distinct advantages and disadvantages, but the most effective conservation system should incorporate elements of both. They need to be used in a complementary manner. Nevertheless, in a number of cases it is not clear how decisions as to optimally balance the different methods available can be made how such a strategy would work. More research is required.
A complementary conservation strategy involves striking the right balance between different methods employed. It depends on the species being conserved, the local infrastructure and human resources, the number of accessions in a given collection, its geographic site and intended use of the conserved germplasm.
Such a strategy does not advocate a particular method, simply because the method is available, but because it is the most appropriate one under the given conditions. A good complementary conservation strategy does not categorize crops or species into definitive classes. It is dynamic, and lends itself to meet the challenges of changes that are occurring in the field of genetic resources as it is open to new technologies and new needs.
