newsletterNo 26 No 26 No 26 No 26 No 26 - June 2003- June 2003- June 2003- June 2003- June 2003

for Europefor Europefor Europefor Europefor Europe

International Plant Genetic Resources Institute

Inside this issueInside this issueInside this issueInside this issueInside this issue

EUFORGEN 4-5

DYGEN 6

ECP/GR 8-11

News from the Regions 12

A new DG for IPGRI 14

Forthcoming meetings 16

The International Plant GeneticResources Institute (IPGRI) isone of the 16 Centres of theConsultative Group onInternational AgriculturalResearch (CGIAR). IPGRI’sgoal is to advance theconservation and use of geneticdiversity for the well-being ofpresent and future generations.From its headquarters in Romeand its regional offices, IPGRIpromotes and coordinates theaction needed for theconservation of these geneticresources.

IPGRI’s Regional Office forEurope provides theCoordination Secretariats for theEuropean CooperativeProgramme for Crop GeneticResources Networks (ECP/GR)and for the European ForestGenetic Resources Programme(EUFORGEN).

IPGRI publishes two issues ofthe Regional Newsletter forEurope a year. This Newsletteris intended to serve as aninformal forum for the exchangeof news and views, and to createcloser ties within the geneticresources community in Europe.Previous issues are availablefrom the IPGRI website.

A Russian version of thisNewsletter is being producedand disseminated in collaborationwith the N.I. Vavilov ResearchInstitute of Plant Industry (VIR) inSt. Petersburg.

We invite you to send your ideasand contributions for thisNewsletter to IPGRI’s RegionalOffice for Europe. Please sendall contributions for Issue 27 by27 October 2003.

“Key Seed Bank May BeUprooted”; “Russian Gene BankFaces Eviction”; “Kremlin Sets ItsSights on St. Isaac’s Square” –these were some of the headlinespublished in the Russian andforeign media during recentmonths about the possible moveof the N. I. Vavilov ResearchInstitute of Plant Industry (VIR)from its premises in StPetersburg. The British“Guardian” newspaper even wentas far as describing the situationas “Putin threat to $8 trillion genetreasure…”.

VIR has occupied twobuildings at Isakievskaja (St.Isaac) Square, one of Russia’smost historic squares in thecentre of St Petersburg, since1922. It was in these buildingswhere the staff of the Institute,many losing their lives, managedto preserve the large andundoubtedly unique collection ofseeds during the dramaticconditions of the blockade of thecity in 1941.

The Institute has recentlycompleted constructing severalcold rooms and liquid nitrogen-cooled tanks for long-termgermplasm storage in one of thebuildings, and transfer of relevantparts of the collection for safetyduplication in these new facilities isunderway.

The idea of St Petersburgbeing granted some functions of acapital city with federalgovernment offices beingrelocated from Moscow to StPetersburg has been underconsideration for some time.However, the actual location ofnew Federal office space in theVIR buildings is a recentdevelopment. Both historical VIR

buildings are nowfederal property,covered by adecree issued inDecember 2002 bythe Prime MinisterM. Kasyanov onmunicipalownership.

According to“The St. PetersburgBusiness” newspaper of 21 April 2003, a final decisionwas taken to transfer the twobuildings (as well as the RussianHistorical Archive also locatedclose by) under the PresidentPutin administration’s ownershipand management. According tothe paper, “the buildings currentlyoccupied by the two organizationsare not at all suitable for safestorage of materials with suchhigh value. The decision is finaland cannot be appealed”.

It remains to be seen whatcourse future developments willtake regarding the possibletransfer of the Institute’s collectionand research facilities. The

current developments could resultin a scenario proposed by theInternational Consultative Groupfor VIR in 1998, namely to build acompletely new, state-of-the-artgenebank and research facility atVIRs site in Pushkin, just outsideof St Petersburg, while maintainingVIR’s office with a public Vavilovmuseum and herbarium in the city.Most recently, Ms. V. Matviyenko,President Putin’s plenipotentiaryalong with academician ZhoresAlferov, a Nobel Prize winner, paidseveral visits to the Institute todiscuss the current situation andperspectives.

A significant amount of time has passed since the last discussion onthe future European Council Regulation on genetic resources inagriculture - “Will there be a follow-up to EC Regulation 1467/94?” – aspublished in August 2000, Issue 18 of this Newsletter.However, the process has recently become more concerted and afresh proposal for a new Regulation and its draft implementationprogramme were discussed during two meetings held at the EuropeanCommission (EC) in Brussels in February and March this year.Representatives of Member States were invited to comment on theproposal, as well as experts from NGOs, genebanks and regionalnetworking programmes. Highlights of the discussions at thesemeetings include:

ScopeAnimal, crop, microbial and forest genetic resources will fall within thescope of the Regulation. It was emphasized that the Regulationshould be seen within the context of socioeconomic aspects of ruraldevelopment and sustainable agriculture. This means that emphasisin the future implementation programme will be on species withcurrent or potential value for Europe’s agriculture.According to the EC, animal genetic resources will need particularattention. Measures on genetic resources in forestry are included inprinciple, but it is likely that support will be provided only to a verylimited extent. Forestry in the European Union is primarily a matter ofnational policy and aquatic genetic resources in agriculture are notcovered by the Regulation on similar grounds; i.e. subsidiarity andcomplementarity with other regulations and programmes of theCommunity.

(continued on page 2)

(continued on page 2)

A new European Council Regulation

About this NewsletterAbout this NewsletterAbout this NewsletterAbout this NewsletterAbout this Newsletter

The Vavilov Institute in the international pressProf V. DragavtsevVIR Director General &Dr S. AlexanianDeputy Director,International Relations

VIR, St Petersburg (Photo: VIR)

22222IPGRI Newsletter for Europe

InventoriesLengthy discussions have been undertaken on the need forsupporting inventory projects and currently, 20% of the total budgetproposed is allocated for this type of project. The views andarguments of those involved in the process have widely contrasted,but inventories will almost certainly be among the measures eligiblefor support. During the last meeting, several participants referred tothe Search Catalogue EURISCO as an already existing inventorymechanism for ex situ crop genetic resources held in genebankcollections.

On-farm conservation and developmentSupport for on-farm conservation and the development of localbreeds and autochthonous crop varieties will also be supported underthe new Regulation, and the role of NGOs in this area has beenrecognized. The technical part of the discussions also touched uponthe terminology used, the relevance of neutral molecular markerapplications within projects on genetic resources, and access andavailability of outputs resulting from the projects.It was noted that while the title of the Regulation explicitly mentions“conservation, characterization, collection and utilization” of geneticresources, documentation and evaluation are equally important areasalso covered.

Collaboration with national programmes and with networksThe importance of national programmes as a basis for collaborationand as a mechanism for identifying and setting priorities for the futureimplementation programme was emphasized during the discussions.The EC would like to see value added through this EC programmeabove and beyond the efforts undertaken at the national level by eachMember State.A significant part of the discussion focused on the collaborativelinkages between the implementation programme and existing pan-European networking programmes including the Animal GeneticResources network, ECP/GR and EUFORGEN. The networks wereencouraged to play an important role in identifying priorities and insupporting the implementation process of the new Regulation.Although the Regulation and associated implementation programmeare currently being circulated and finalized at various levels of the EC,it is generally expected that the first call for proposals will be publishedby the end of 2003 or in early 2004. A second call will then be made topartners from 25 countries - due to the ten new Member States to beadmitted in May 2004. According to the EC representatives, a total of15-20 projects will be funded under the new Regulation.

Ms. Matviyenko said that onlywell-thought and plannedmeasures would be taken by theAdministration to secure thenational heritage from loss ordamage. The new owner andmanager of the buildings hascommissioned two actions: thefirst will assess and determinemeasures for an urgent generaloverhaul of the buildings. Thesecond will advise thegovernment on future scientificand technical strategy of VIR. Itis expected that both Russianand international experts will beinvited to become members ofthis commission.

(continued from page 1)

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New EU project on Crop Wild Relatives The Vavilov Institutein the internationalpress

A new European Council Regulation

PGRForum, a three-yearEuropean project on conservationand diversity assessment ofEuropean crop wild relatives, heldits first meeting 5-8 February 2003in Veria, near Thessalonica,Greece.

PGRForum is funded throughthe European Commission (EC)Fifth Framework Programme forEnergy, Environment andSustainable Development, Keyaction 2 ‘Global change, climateand biodiversity’, 2.2.3 ‘Assessingand conserving biodiversity’. Itbrings together European plantconservationists to debate theassessment and conservation ofEuropean wild crop relatives atspecies and population levels, toassess the baseline biodiversitydata, threat and conservationstatus, and to formulate

methodologies for conservation.PGRForum is composed of 23national partners, and eightadvisory board members andstakeholder representatives. Theproject is coordinated by NigelMaxted and Shelagh Kell, ProjectOfficer, at the University ofBirmingham, UK.

The main objective of this firstworkshop, entitled ‘European wildcrop relative assessment’, was toagree on the list of European cropwild relative taxa that would beused as the basis for thePGRForum, the minimum datasetrequired per taxon and the datastandards. This start-up meetingwas also an opportunity for theSteering Committee members tomeet and discuss the overallcoordination of the project andother issues. Discussions were

held through working groupsfocusing on: the different datasources that currently exist;access and acquisition ofadditional data sets; and decidingupon responsibilities for datacollection. Links with the EuropeanPlant Genetic ResourcesInformation Infra-Structure(EPGRIS) project and theEuropean Search Catalogue for exsitu collections (EURISCO) webcatalogue were also discussed.

The PGRForum Workshop 1resulted in the following agreedoutcomes:

• A project web site will beestablished to facilitate theexchange of informationamong project partners andto disseminate outputs.

• A simple, preliminary datamanagement/data entrysystem will be identified tofacilitate the early acquisitionof data needed for thesecond workshop in 2005.

• A full taxon list of Europeancrop wild relatives will beproduced by extracting thelist of genera included in theMansfeld database andidentifying the appropriatespecies falling within thesegenera from Flora Europea.This list will represent thebreadth of coverage requiredas a project output.

• The depth of coveragerequired will be achieved bymaking a limited selection oftaxa from the list. Thisselection should be primarilybased upon the specific cropexpertise available to thepartner and their assessmentof the potential availability ofthe required data that shouldinclude distribution data.

• Prioritization of species in thefull taxon list will beundertaken separately andbased initially upon a list ofcriteria still to be agreed.

• PGRForum will form thebasis of a specialist group oncrop wild relatives in relationto the IUCN Species SurvivalCommission.

Future PGRForum workshopsplanned include:

• 2nd: Threat andconservation assessment,Denmark, postponed to2005. Output: Priority list ofconservation actions;

• 3rd: Data managementmethodologies, Prague,Czech Republic, September2003. Output: conservationdata managementmethodology;

• 4th: Populationmanagement methodologies,Valencia, Spain, June 2004.Output: Methodologies forgeneration of protected areamanagement plans, areamonitoring and populationmanagement methodology;

• 5th: Genetic erosion andgenetic pollutionmethodologies, Azores,Portugal, September 2004.Output: Methodologies forassessing, predicting geneticerosion and pollution.

• 6th: Thematic NetworkProduct Dissemination andExploitation, Maccarese,Italy, September 2005.Output: Final EuropeanConference, dissemination ofdatasets generated by theproject workshops.

For more information onPGRForum, please contact NigelMaxted (n.maxted@bham.ac.uk)or Shelagh Kell(s.p.kell@bham.ac.uk)

33333IPGRI Newsletter for Europe

Prof. M. FalcinelliDepartment of Biology andBiotechnology (DBVBA)University of PerugiaItaly

Umbria is widely recognized asthe “green heart” of Italy thanks toits unique territory - a mosaic ofnatural and forested areas andcultivated lands. Low inputagriculture still remains animportant economic focus for theentire region.

In 2001 the local governmentapproved a project on thesustainable exploitation of thegenetic resources of the Umbriaregion (Valorizzazione delleRisorse Genetiche della RegioneUmbria), supported by the RuralDevelopment Plan (PSR). Theproject, to be implemented 2000-2006, is managed by the ParcoTecnologico Agroalimentaredell’Umbria, and this regionalagricultural institute will alsoprovide the in vitro conservationexpertise. The Department ofBiology and Biotechnology(DBVBA) of Perugia University,provides the scientificcoordination.

The aim of the project is toidentify and safeguard the geneticdiversity of the regional agro-ecosystems using a variety ofapproaches, including: goodecogeographical knowledge;identification, collection, evaluationand characterization of geneticresources still under cultivation;adoption of appropriateconservation systems; and

appropriate sustainableexploitation. Ecogeographicsurveys are already underway inareas never previouslyinvestigated, marginal agriculturallands and for populations ofgenetic resources (species andlandraces) significantly threatenedby erosion.

Results from the first year ofstudy have yielded interestingresults: surprisingly, manylandraces are still cultivated andutilized by farmers in many areas.An inventory of this material totals408 accessions - fruits (apple, fig,pear and plum), vine and oliverepresent 55% of the total,followed by legumes (lentil,chickpea, grass pea, “roveja”,etc.) and vegetables (salads,turnip, pumpkin etc.).

Specific examples of thesespecies and landraces include“Roveja” (Pisum arvense L.) - awild pea that has been historicallycultivated by shepherds whichspontaneously populates theApennines area. This has beenused both for sheep feed and toprepare a type of porridge locallyknown as “farrecchiata” due to themilling system it shares with farro.Today, many farms have re-introduced this crop in the rotationsystem and “farrecchiata” hasbeen discovered by restaurantsas a typical dish of the region.Farro, otherwise known as emmerwheat, deserves special mentiondue to its 10 000 year history.This species almost disappearedcompletely about ten years ago,but it has now been recoveredboth as a crop and as a food. Inthe Apennines Valnerina area onthe border with the Marche region,cultivation of a local emmer varietycalled “farro di Monteleone diSpoleto”, never ceased. This is avery interesting historical caseboth genetically andethnobotanically, and it representsa true example of on-farmconservation.

The presence of landraces isstrongly connected to the oldergeneration of the region who haveserved as rigorous custodians ofseeds and plants and, at the sametime, as a precious source of localinformation. These people have

memories and knowledge that arenot documented and sadly, thisindigenous knowledge is notpassing to the next generation andis more at risk than the geneticresources themselves. Geneticdiversity can be conserved - butthis heritage and knowledge maywell disappear with these people.We must do what we can toconserve this valuable informationalong with the genetic resourcesthemselves.

The “pera di Monteleone”, a localvariety of pear still present in theOrvieto-Todi area of the Umbriaregion. (Photo: O. Porfiri)

Umbria: a very rich region of biodiversity, but ….

Arcangelo is 92 years old and lives with his family in Colfiorito, in theUmbria-Marches region of the Apennines. This picture depictsArcangelo clearly recounting the 100 year history of his land toIsabella Dalla Ragione, including the technological innovations

introduced throughout the century. He recited the arrival of the lentil atColfiorito and the link between its cultivation and the better known“lentil of Castelluccio”. He also told explained the birth of the “red

potato of Colfiorito” and the many local varieties of apple which he stillmaintains on his small farm – including old trees on which differentvarieties have been grafted. His nephew, also called Arcangelo,

continues to run the farm but somewhere along the generation line,the information link has been broken and none of this agricultural

knowledge has been inherited by Arcangelo junior. (Photo: O. Porfiri)

"This indigenousknowledge ... is more

at risk than thegenetic resources

themselves. Geneticdiversity can be

conserved - but thisheritage and

knowledge may welldisappear with these

people."

44444IPGRI Newsletter for EuropeEuropean Forest Genetic Resources ProgrammeEuropean Forest Genetic Resources ProgrammeEuropean Forest Genetic Resources ProgrammeEuropean Forest Genetic Resources ProgrammeEuropean Forest Genetic Resources Programme44444

EUFORGEN

IPGRI Newsletter for Europe

Participants from 17 countriesgathered 22-24 May 2003 for theEighth EUFORGEN Populus nigraNetwork meeting at Treppeln, nearFrankfurt (Oder) in Germany.Organized by the Institute forForest Genetics and Forest TreeBreeding, the meeting was openedwith an address by Mr ThorstenHinrichs from the German FederalMinistry for Consumer Protection,Food and Agriculture. Heemphasized that the Populus nigraNetwork has a clear advantagefocusing on only two species in itswork and also highlighted the roleof EUFORGEN in facilitating theconservation of forest geneticresources in Europe.

The meeting was held close tothe River Oder, which forms partof the border between Germanyand Poland, where a few blackpoplar populations still exist. Inaddition to discussing theprogress made in conservingblack poplar genetic resources byparticipating countries, thesituation along the Oder River wasanalysed and recommendationswere made to overcome theproblems faced in conservingthese local black poplar geneticresources. This included a fieldtrip to Kietz Island whereapproximately 300 black poplarsstill grow but no naturalregeneration takes place.

This lack of naturalregeneration is related to thehydrology and dynamics of theriver system and is a problemfaced in other river systems bothin Germany and other countriesthroughout the black poplardistribution range. Long-termnatural regeneration is onlypossible if the overall hydrology ofthe Oder River is restored – a

very difficult solution to implement.As an alternative, short-termsolution, it was suggested that thepresent low population size, whichis considered too small for long-term gene conservation, beincreased through artificialregeneration and by increasingthe number of genotypes in thepopulation. This will requiregenerative propagation, usingseed obtained from open-pollinatedfemale trees orfrom controlledcrosses. Theresultingseedlingsshould then begrown in anursery andplanted out atthe age of twoor three yearsat suitablespots on theisland. The useof molecularmarkers tomonitor thedevelopment ofthe geneticstructure of theblack poplarpopulation wasalsorecommended.

Otherdiscussionsfocused on theCommon ActionPlan - an initiative proposed earlierby the Network to facilitate thesharing of responsibilities for the insitu conservation of black poplargenetic resources and theimplementation of practicalconservation work. This initiativeseeks ways to link existing geneconservation units at a regionallevel and to identify gaps in geneconservation efforts within thespecies’ distribution area. As afirst step for further developingthe Plan, the Network decided tostart developing a density map forblack poplar, mainly along theriver systems within the species’distribution area. It was proposedthat the map should indicate thedensity of the species usingdifferent colours and symbols for

continuous natural populations,fragmented populations, areaswith scattered trees and areaswith no black poplar trees alongthe river systems. Those areaswith no information on black poplarwill be left uncoloured to indicate‘white spots’ or gaps in informationon the occurrence of the speciesalong the river systems in differentcountries. The density map willcomplement the black poplar

distribution map alreadydeveloped by the Network.

Achievements of the Networkin the past year include publicationof a technical bulletin for the in situconservation of black poplar. Thisprovides detailed information onvarious highly relevant topics forconserving black poplar geneticresources. The Network is alsocurrently preparing technicalguidelines for the geneticconservation and use of black andwhite poplars, targeted specificallyat forest managers.

The report of this meeting andmore information of the nextPopulus nigra Network meeting tobe held in Switzerland in late 2004are available fromwww.euforgen.org.

The EUFORGEN web site has been completely revised and re-structured to improve the dissemination of information onEUFORGEN outputs and forest genetic resources in general. Allcountry reports are now easily accessible and can be searched usingdifferent criteria, and the grey literature database has also beenenlarged.New features include species distribution maps (from TechnicalGuidelines) that can be downloaded and an easy link to free GIStools. Species summary pages are also available for the mainspecies, providing easy access to all information available on a givenspecies. The new web site address is now even easier to remember,so please visit www.euforgen.org and tell us what you think!

Populus nigra (P

hoto: EU

FO

RG

EN

P. nigra N

etwork)

Eighth Populus nigra Network meeting

New EUFORGEN Web site

55555IPGRI Newsletter for Europe

http://www.euforgen.orghttp://www.euforgen.orghttp://www.euforgen.orghttp://www.euforgen.orghttp://www.euforgen.orgEUFORGENEUFORGENEUFORGENEUFORGENEUFORGENIPGRI Newsletter for Europe55555

The Fourth Ministerial Conferenceon the Protection of Forests inEurope (MCPFE) was held 28-30April 2003 at the Hofburg Palacein Vienna, Austria. The Summitbrought together Ministersresponsible for forests from 41European countries, arepresentative of the EuropeanCommission (EC),representatives from four non-ECcountries and 24 internationalorganisations to discuss thefuture of the protection andsustainable management offorests in Europe.

The key outcome of this highlysuccessful summit was thesigning of the Vienna Declaration“European Forests – CommonBenefits, Shared Responsibilities”by 40 European countries and theEC. Five resolutions were alsoadopted, tackling: cross-sectoralcooperation and national forestprogrammes; social and culturalaspects and the economic viabilityof sustainable forest management;forest biological diversity, andforests and climate change.

The Vienna Declarationemphasises the fact that forestsprovide diverse benefits. They area source of renewable energy,help protect against naturalhazards, serve as an area ofrecreation for society, act as acarbon sink and so assist inreducing environmental damage,and help to conserve waterresources. Wood is also anenvironmentally friendly rawmaterial. All of these applicationsshould benefit all sectors ofsociety to the same extent, andthis requires a sharedresponsibility by relevant groupsfor the forest and its variousfunctions. Through the ViennaDeclaration, Ministers made acommitment to promote thisdiversity of benefits in their policymaking and to work towards a fairdistribution of costs.

The first of the five resolutionsadopted states that the challengesfaced in protecting and usingforests can only be overcome byjoint efforts involving all interestedparties. To implement this andother MCFE resolutions, theMinisters recommended using

national forest programmes as asuitable instrument to achieve thisobjective and to improve linkagesbetween the forest sector andother relevant sectors orinterested parties. Developing andimplementing a national forestprogramme is a participatory andholistic process, bringing togethera variety of interest groups andsectors involved in and benefitingfrom the utilization of forests.

The Vienna Summit alsopromoted sustainable forestmanagement – specificallyeconomic viability (Resolution 2)and social and cultural dimensions(Resolution 3). It notes thatsustainable forest management isonly practical in the long-term ifthe various goods and serviceshave economic value. In ruralareas, forests are often the mostimportant source of income andemployment for many people. TheMinisters wish to strengthen thisforest function by developing aneffective economic policy inpartnership with other socialgroups.

Through Resolution 3Ministers agree to incorporate thecultural values of the forest intotheir policy making. As a naturalfeature of our environment,forests have always been subjectto use and cultivation, enablinghuman cultural and social historyto be traced through the centuries.

Resolution 4 addresses theconservation and enhancement offorest biological diversity inEurope through national forestprogrammes, which complementsthe earlier outputs by theConvention on Biological Diversity(CBD), the United Nations Forumon Forests, and the World Summiton Sustainable Development. TheMinisters and the EC committed topromoting the conservation offorest genetic resources as anintegral part of sustainable forestmanagement and to continuing thispan-European collaboration.These commitments are highlyrelevant for the future work ofEUFORGEN.

Resolution 5 commitsEuropean countries to promoteand use forests and wood-basedproducts to alleviate the effects of

global climate change. TheMinisters also committed theircountries to enhancing policies,strategies and measures forbetter adaptability of forests toclimate change, as well as tosharing experiences at the pan-European level. Forests have animportant role in storing carbonand thus mitigating the effects ofclimate change, but this role mustnot become subordinate to theother benefits, as a lastingimprovement can only beachieved by reducing emissions.Promoting wood as an energysource can make a significantcontribution in this respect.

For the first time in the historyof the MCPFE process, the LivingForest Summit included a Multi-stakeholder Dialogue enablingforest owners, forest industry,social and environmental NGOsand scientific community to voicetheir views on a range of forest-related issues to the Ministers. Itwas widely recognised thatMCPFE is very dynamic,responding to changingcircumstances and plays asignificant role in implementingsustainable forest management inEurope, as well as helping shapeinternational forest policy. Thisdialogue demonstrated that thereis a high awareness of theimportance of Europe’s forestsand that all stakeholders play asignificant role in implementingsustainable forest management.

The Living Forest Summitmarked the beginning of a newworking cycle for the MCPFEprocess. Together with theMCPFE chair, the Liaison Unit willmove from Austria to Poland at theend of 2003. The Summit thankedAustria for its excellent hostingarrangements and Norway,Portugal and Poland for preparingthe Vienna Summit. Portugal inparticular was thanked as it will bereplaced by Spain in thepreparatory group for the nextMinisterial Conference to be heldin Warsaw.

More information about theConference can be found atwww.mcpfe.org

Technical Guidelines for geneticconservation and use have beenpublished for five noblehardwoods (black alder,common ash, sycamore, servicetree and wild cherry) and threeconifers (Brutia and Aleppopines, Maritime pine and Norwayspruce). The objective is toprovide recommendations forlong-term genetic conservationin Europe as a commonly agreedbasis to be complemented andfurther developed in local,national and regional conditions.The Guidelines are based on theavailable knowledge of thespecies and on widely acceptedmethods for the conservation offorest genetic resources.Publication of the second set ofthe Technical Guidelines isscheduled for July 2003 and athird for late 2003/early 2004.The complete series ofTechnical Guidelines will includeabout 30 species and will beavailable online atwww.euforgen.org.

Technical Guidelinesnow published

Living Forest Summit

66666IPGRI Newsletter for Europe

Dynamics and conservation of genetic diversity in forest ecosystemsDr Antoine Kremer &Ms Marie Pierre RevironUMR Biodiversity Genes andEcosystemsINRACestas, France

During the past decade or so, theEuropean Commission (EC) hasbeen supportingresearch onpopulationgenetics offorest trees inEurope throughthe 4

th and 5

th

FrameworkProgrammes.Researchefforts havefocused onimportant issuessuch as themonitoring ofgenetic diversityand understanding the basicmechanisms that affect andmodify this genetic diversity. Atleast 20 different projects involvingmore than 160 institutions andlaboratories have been completedand more than 30 tree speciesfrom Mediterranean to Alpineecosystems have been studiedwithin these projects. Since itsestablishment in late 1994,EUFORGEN has also facilitatedthe development of several ofthese projects and contributed tothe dissemination of the researchresults.

From 2-5 December 2002, aninternational conference“Dynamics and Conservation ofGenetic Diversity in ForestEcosystems” (DYGEN) was heldat the European Parliament inStrasburg, France. TheConference aimed at improvinglinkages between basic researchon population, evolutionary andecological genetics andimplementing the results inpractical conservation efforts.Major research findings weresummarised and the applicabilityof the results to real-lifeconservation efforts wasdiscussed. Future research needsin the field of population andconservation genetics ofEuropean forest trees were alsoidentified.

DYGEN was a joint initiative of thecoordinators of the EC supportedprojects and the EUFORGENNetwork Chairs. Results of ECsupported projects werepresented together with theactivities of the five EUFORGENnetworks. These results andexperiences were then comparedto other approaches andinvestigations conducted in otherparts of the world including Africa,America and Asia. TheConference was introduced byofficials of the EC, who highlightedthe support given during the 4

th

and the 5th Framework

Programmes and also providedperspectives within the 6

th

Framework Programme.The Conference was attended

by 278 participants from 43countries. A total of 78 papers and118 posters were presented,focusing on a wide range ofissues such as gene flow infragmented landscapes andmanaged forests, hybridization,adaptation, impacts of climatechange, transfer of artificial seedand conservation of widespreadand domesticated species.

A major conclusion drawn wasthat one of the greatest challengesto forest conservation genetics isto provide expertise for developingappropriate conservation

strategies and forest policies tominimise the negative effects ofclimatic change on forestecosystems and to ensurecontinuous adaptation of treespecies in the future. Thediscussions highlighted the factthat gene conservation effortsneed to meet different criteria andfulfil highly diverse interestsrelated to forests. The importanceof international coordination inconserving forest geneticresources was also highlighted,especially in the case ofwidespread tree species.

Adequate genetic diversity isimportant for the futureproductivity of forests and themaintenance of this diversitydepends strongly on forestmanagement and related policies.Therefore, forest geneticistsshould be active in demonstratingto policy makers why geneticconservation is important for theforest sector.

All papers will be published in aspecial issue of Forest Ecologyand Management currently underpreparation. Abstracts of allpresentations are available atwww.pierroton.inra.fr/genetics/Dygen. Further information on theoutputs of DYGEN can beobtained from Antoine Kremer(Antoine.kremer@pierroton.inra.fr).

77777IPGRI Newsletter for Europe

germplasm collections in Europe.With the responsibility for thiscollection divided between the twoMinistries (BMBF and BMVEL),finding the ideal solution to thisorganisational problem was a long,difficult political process. TheHolding of Scientific Associationsof Research in Agricultural,Forestry, Veterinarian andEnvironmental Research(“Dachverband”) was finallycommissioned to establish anindependent, high level scientificexpert committee. After thoroughinvestigation of the problem, thecommittee concluded in 1994 thatall ex situ collections should becombined in a singleorganisational unit at IPK.

In 1996 the Federal Centre forBreeding Research (FAL) onCultivated Plants (BAZ) assumedresponsibility for the FALgenebank and the name waschanged from BGRC to “BAZGene Bank”. The BAZ Gene Bankwas tasked with maintaining keyfunctions on a skeleton staff (twoscientists and sixtechnicians) andminimal resources.

Merging these two old, largeand highly diverse collections andinformation systems is a uniqueevent and could be a usefulexperience if Europe decides toestablish a central Europeangenebank holding similar to theNational Seed Stock Laboratory(NSSL) of the USDA/ARS.

Future Plans?BAZ and the Gene Bank willcontinue ongoing work andassume some new tasks in thefield of sustainable managementand use of PGR. This includes:

• BAZ remains responsible fortwo ECP/GR Central CropData Bases (CCDBs),specifically the EADB(Avena) and IDBB (Beta).The redesigned andupgraded versions (by Dr C.Germeier) may be useful inorganising task-sharing inEurope and also offersolutions for thedocumentation and datapresentation of other CCDBs.

• In response to the Global

Reorganization of the BAZ Gene Bank underway in GermanyDr Lothar FreseFederal Centre for BreedingResearch on Cultivated Plants(BAZ)Braunschweig, GermanyFollowing intensive discussions in

Germany, a decision was taken inearly 2002 by the Ministry ofConsumer Protection, Food andAgriculture (BMVEL) and theMinistry of Education andResearch (BMBF) to merge the exsitu germplasm holding of theFederal Centre for BreedingResearch on Cultivated Plants(BAZ) - Gene Bank inBraunschweig with the ex situcollection of the Institute of PlantGenetics and Crop PlantResearch (IPK), Gatersleben. TheBAZ Gene Bank is the successorof the Braunschweig GeneticResources Collection (BGRC),operated by the FederalAgricultural Research Centre(FAL) until 1996. Almost allaccessions of a total of 46 942have already been transferredfrom Braunschweig toGatersleben. In exchange, theInstitute of Fruit Breeding of BAZhas taken over IPK’s fruit cropsfield collection and database.

The need to reorganise thePGRFA holdings first arosefollowing unification, and since 3

rd

October 1990, Germany has heldone of the largest national

Plan of Action (GPA) theBMVEL has launched anational expert programmefor PGRFA defining activitiesfor in situ and on-farmmanagement. BAZ will assistBMVEL in implementing thisprogramme and to ensureintegration of thecomplementary ex situ and insitu management strategies.

• A new research facility will beconstructed at Quedlinburgbetween 2004–2005 and willbe shared by IPK and BAZcolleagues.

• Dr M. Höfer of the Institute ofFruit Breeding (BAZ),Dresden-Pillnitz has beenappointed as the new curatorof the fruit crops collection.BAZ will also continue tomanage the grapevinegermplasm collection of theInstitute of GrapevineBreeding located atSiebeldingen.

As we close our doors of thisextensive ex situ PGRFA holdingat Braunsweig, we wish to thankall our users for their long-terminterest in the material we havemanaged as trustees of the BAZGene Bank.

• A steady flow of germplasm from the genebank to users. Anestimated 2800 partners in 87 countries, were supplied 139700 seed samples and/or germplasm information withinGermany and around the world.

• Work undertaken by the first documentation officer, Dr L.Seidewitz, significantly influenced the documentation ofgenetic resources in Europe. He proposed the internationalstandardisation of germplasm descriptors, (that IPGRIdescriptor lists now follow) and also developed a computer-aided genebank data documentation system - one of the veryfew functioning world-wide during the 1980s.

• Longstanding German-Dutch co-operation in the field of PGRconservation began in 1974 and was formalized by anagreement in 1984. This includes task sharing of collections -specifically collecting, regeneration, conservation,documentation and safety duplication. While the Dutch partnermanages a large collection of wild and primitive potatoes, theGerman counterpart manages the genus Beta. Both partnersare engaged in managing international networks such as theAssociation of Intergenebank Collaborators (APIC) and theWorld Beta Network (WBN) as well as the respectiveIntergenebank Potato Database (IPD) and the InternationalDatabase for Beta (IDBB).

• For many years the genebank has served as the repositoryof obsolete European potato varieties, managedenthusiastically by Dr G. Mix-Wagner (FAL).Cryopreservation technology for potatoes developed by DrA. Schäfer-Menuhr and Dr Mix-Wagner at FAL havebeen adopted by IPK and other genebanks.

What has been the impact of the BAZGene Bank on PGR in Europe?

"We are grateful tothe many guestswho have sharedtheir knowledgewith us and we

greatly appreciatethe assistance of themany breeders from

the public andcommercial sectorswho have helped us

to maintain,characterise and

evaluate thecollection.

“Thank you” toeveryone in PGRFA

for your supportduring the past ten

years."

88888IPGRI Newsletter for Europe

The Austrian Agency of Healthand Food Safety of the City ofLinz, in the heart of Upper Austria,was the kind host of the eighthmeeting of the Working Group onForages, 10 -12 April 2003.

Participants representing 31European countries reviewed thestatus of their national collectionsand reconfirmed that theidentification of the Most OriginalSamples (MOS) was an importantstep in obtaining benefits fromgenebanks sharing conservationresponsibilities. The Group aimsat completing this exercise by theend of 2003 for Dactylis, Festuca,Lolium, Medicago, Phleum, Poa,and Trifolium. This should result ingenebanks assuming theresponsibility to maintain the MOSas primary holders.

The Group realized that inmany situations, genebankcurators will need to rationalizecollections that have reachedunsustainable dimensions. As afurther step to help maintainvaluable collections, the Grouprecommended that the support ofinternational initiatives, such asthe Global Conservation Trust, beensured (see page 13). Thecommitment to ensure thatvaluable germplasm is safetyduplicated in a different genebankwas renewed, and severalgenebanks offered space for long-term conservation of safety-duplicates.

The Group sharedexperiences in adoptingregeneration standards. The bulkharvest approach is preferred inseveral cases, as the single plantharvest is too expensive -however, the Group is lookingforward to indications from theICONFORS project (see page 10)regarding the extent of the geneticeffect of the choice of one systemversus another. In the meantime,to increase transparency, theGroup will publish a description ofthe regeneration standards usedby all genebanks.

It was decided that proposalswill be submitted to the upcomingEC programme on theconservation, characterization,collection and utilization of geneticresources in agriculture. Forages

are an appropriate crop to satisfythe likely objectives of theprogramme, i.e. diversification ofproduction, improved productquality, sustainable managementand use and better care of theenvironment.

Different approaches to on-farm conservation were presentedby representatives of Finland,Norway and Switzerland. In thelast four years, five old red cloverlandraces have been registeredwithin the Finnish project(‘Sirppilahden Johanna’ fromMuuruvesi, ‘Vesilahtelainen’ fromVesilahti, ‘Lahtua’ from Orivesi,‘Perttuli’ from Tuovilanlahti, and‘Turunen’ from Lammasaho). InNorway, where all of thelandraces of timothy and redclover were lost, the Nordic GeneBank began producing three broadgenepools in timothy (Phleumpratense), meadow fescue(Festuca pratensis) and redclover (Trifolium pratense) - thethree most used forages inNorway. Seeds of all theaccessions in the collection,including some commercialcultivars, will be inter-crossed anda suitable mixture of the threespecies will be made and the seed

distributed to selected farmers indifferent parts of Norway. InSwitzerland, an ex situ collectionof about 100 old Swiss red cloverlandraces, which were traditionallymaintained on-farm until the early1970s, was found to haveseriously reduced germinability.Thanks to a federal grant from theSwiss Plan of Action, a publicresearch station (FAL-Reckenholz) and the seedindustry (represented by theassociation of Swiss seed andplant traders), regeneration andevaluation of these samples hasbegun. During the first year(2002), evaluation of 33 landracesrevealed significant differences forflowering date, stem length, leafletlength and width, and mildewsusceptibility.

The Group reconfirmed BeatBoller and Evelin Willner as Chairand Vice-Chair. Special thankswere extended to Rudolf Schachl,who recently retired from theAustrian Agency of Health andFoodsafety, after having devotedhis career to PGR.

A report of the meeting will beavailable free of charge from theIPGRI Regional Office for Europe,and from the ECP/GR web site.

European Cooperative Programme for CropEuropean Cooperative Programme for CropEuropean Cooperative Programme for CropEuropean Cooperative Programme for CropEuropean Cooperative Programme for Crop

Sustainable use of foragegenetic resources in Norway(Photo: Dr Petter Marum,Bjørken Research Station,Norway)

ECP/GR and the Inter-regionalCooperation Task Force initiatedactivities in 2002 to enhancecollaboration between Europeanpartners and other regionalnetworks, particularly in the areaof PGR documentation.To promote this collaboration, aworkshop was held 18-20 Marchin Cotonou, Benin on PGRinformation networking entitled‘Towards regional approaches toPGR documentation of ex situcollections‘. Organizedcollaboratively by ECP/GR, theGenetic Resources Network forWest and Central Africa(GRENEWECA) and theTechnical Centre for Agricultureand Rural Cooperation - CTA,the Netherlands, the workshopprovided an opportunity todiscuss crosscutting issues withexperts from both regions,examine practical solutions, andto build upon ongoing initiativeson PGR documentation andinformation networking.Over the last 20 years, ECP/GRhas developed expertise and

experience in developingregional strategies,and commontools insharing andcentralizinginformationon cropcollectionsamongstdifferent institutions and betweencountries. Today, information onmore than 50 European CentralCrop Databases is available.The EU-funded European PlantGenetic Resources InformationInfra-Structure project(EPGRIS), currently supportingthe development of nationalinventories of ex situ PGRcollections, provided aninteresting example of a regionalapproach to PGR documentation.Participants at the workshopincluded documentation focalpoints from GRENEWECA,the Southern AfricanDevelopment Community(SADC), the West Africa RiceDevelopment Association

Strengthening inter-regional cooperation andregional approaches to PGR documentation...

Eighth Meeting of the Working Group on Forages

IPGRI Newsletter for Europe99999 Genetic Resources Networks Genetic Resources Networks Genetic Resources Networks Genetic Resources Networks Genetic Resources Networks http://www.ecpgr.cgiar.orghttp://www.ecpgr.cgiar.orghttp://www.ecpgr.cgiar.orghttp://www.ecpgr.cgiar.orghttp://www.ecpgr.cgiar.org

On 22 May 2003,coinciding with theInternational Day forBiological Diversity,the ECP/GRVegetables Networkand ad hoc LeafyVegetables meetingwas opened at theResearch Instituteof Vegetable Cropsin Skierniewice,

Poland. For the first time, allattending members of the WorkingGroups on Allium, Brassica,Umbellifer crops and Solanaceaewere invited to participate in aNetwork meeting, together withexperts on Leafy Vegetables andthe focal person on Cucurbitgenetic resources. This involveda total of 42 participants from 27countries, including observersfrom Azerbaijan, the RussianFederation and the Ukraine.

Discussions at this plenaryWorking Group level allowedactions relevant for the futurework of the whole Network to beidentified. The sharing ofresponsibilities - including betterintegration and rationalization ofgenetic resources work at theNetwork level, was considered a

general priority. Collaboration onregeneration activities, tracingduplicate accessions andimproving safety-duplication wereagreed on as the main tasks to beshared. Further development ofthe central crop databases wasalso considered relevant by themajority of the groups, and theneed to coordinate this with theforthcoming European catalogueof crop genetic resourcespassport data (EURISCO).Promoting studies to clarify therelationship between genomes ofwild relatives and cultivatedspecies was endorsed,particularly in the case of theAllium genus. Studies on thedistribution of wild relatives andthe presence of vegetablelandraces were also consideredimportant to further in situ and on-farm conservation.

Each Working Group Chairaccepted the responsibility ofincorporating all the identifiedcommon priorities into theindividual Working Groupactivities. The NetworkCoordinating Group was identifiedas the responsible body to reviewthe progress of the WorkingGroups and to revise the

workplan at the Network level.The Network welcomed a

proposal made by the ECP/GRSecretariat to promote andcoordinate collaboration betweengenebanks and breedingcompanies on a regional scale tomultiply vegetable accessions inurgent need of regeneration.Inspired by the principles of theFAO International Treaty, thisinitiative would not involvemonetary exchange, but would bebased on reciprocal benefit.Several delegates offered to helpin the identification of breedersfrom their respective countriesand to advise the best way toproceed for the preparation ofappropriate agreements.

The opportunity to submitproject proposals to be fundedunder a new EuropeanCommission (EC) Regulation ongenetic resources anticipated inearly 2004 was welcomed by allthe Working Groups. Theexpected eligibility criteria,including the use of geneticresources for diversification ofproduction, improved productquality, sustainable managementand use, and better care for theenvironment will probably best suitmost of the vegetable crops.

During an ad hoc session onleafy vegetables geneticresources, experts of these cropswere able to discuss opportunitiesof cooperation within ECP/GR forthe first time. Following thepresentation of country reports,the development of new centraldatabases for spinach and chicorywas recommended, based on theexample of the existing Lactucadatabase. The exchange of datafor a minimum list ofcharacterization descriptors forthese three crops was alsoagreed. A full report, including thediscussions and plans of eachWorking Group and at theNetwork level, is underpreparation by the Secretariat andwill be available free of chargefrom the IPGRI Regional Office forEurope. Country reports and otherscientific papers provided by theVegetables Network participantswill also be included.

for sharing PGR information onex situ collections in West andCentral Africa, serving as thebasis for developing concreteproject proposals. This strategysupports implementation at thenational level of the commitmentsmade to the Convention onBiological Diversity (CBD) andthe Clearing House Mechanismof the CBD (CHM). It is also fullyin line with the InternationalTreaty on PGRFA and the FAOGlobal Plan of Action (GPA).The overall goal of the strategyis to improve access andutilization of PGR in the Westand Central African regionthrough the development ofnational inventories of PGR heldin ex situ collections. Activitieswill focus on supportingdocumentation and informationnetworking towards thedevelopment of a regionalcatalogue of PGRcomplementing other regionaland international informationsystems such as the EuropeanSearch Catalogue for ex situ

collections (EURISCO) andSINGER, which contribute to theglobal information systemWIEWS of FAO. A network ofdocumentation focal points andnational documentation units willbe established in each country ofthe region, and an informationinfrastructure sustainable at theregional level of GRENEWECAdeveloped. Capacity building willprovide additional documentationexpertise, promote the use ofcommonly agreed standards(passport level) across theregion and the conversion ofaccession data into an electronicformat. The long-term goal is todevelop national inventories ofex situ collections in the majorityof countries of GRENEWECAand a regional catalogue of PGRmaintained ex situ in West andCentral Africa. For moreinformation about GRENEWECA,please contact RaymondVodouhe atR.Vodouhe@cgiar.org or visit:www.ipgri.cgiar.org/regions/ssa/networking/greneweca.htm.

Tomato diversity (Photo:PlantiCo, Poland)

(WARDA), and INGER-Africa,the African wing of theInternational Network for GeneticEvaluation of Rice. Eleven Westand Central African countrieswere represented, includingBenin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon,Cape Verde, Cote d’Ivoire,Ghana, Guinea, Mali, Nigeria,Senegal, and Togo. The objectives of the workshopwere to:

• Exchange experiences andcreate links for futurecollaboration between Europeand Africa;

• Strengthen inter-regionalcollaboration and regionalPGR networks;

• Support the development/exploration of regionalstrategies and action plans forPGR information exchangemechanisms; and

• Promote the use of standardsin information/data exchange.

During the workshop, priorityareas were identified and aregional strategy was developed

Vegetables Network and ad hoc Leafy Vegetables meeting

1010101010

Dr Mervyn HumphreysDepartment of Plant Genetics andBreedingInstitute of Grassland andEnvironmental ResearchAberystwyth, UK

The 4th meeting of ICONFORS(Improving germplasmconservation methods forperennial European foragespecies) took place 20-21February 2003 in Norway toreview the progress made at themid-way point of this four yearproject. Poor conservation of plantgermplasm collections washighlighted as a global problem.Within Europe alone, nearly 100000 forage accessions areconserved in genebanks for arange of possible uses such asplant breeding, reconstitutingnative pastures, and facilitatingresearch in areas such asfunctional genomics andconservation genetics. Seedcannot be stored indefinitely and itis estimated that over 20 000

accessions are now in urgentneed of rejuvenation throughseed multiplication. ICONFORSaims to acquire the genetic andeconomic knowledge needed toimprove seed multiplicationmethodologies for genebanksmaintaining ex situ seedcollections.

ICONFORS focuses on wind-pollinated grasses (perennialryegrass and meadow fescue)and an insect pollinated foragelegume (white clover). Aimsinclude to:• Estimate effects of the

multiplication site on seedquantities/production costs.

• Estimate effects ofmanagement (e.g. isolationchambers vs. field plots, potsize, planting date etc) on

seed quantities andproduction costs.

• Estimate the heritability ofvariation in seed productionand assess genotype x yearinteractions.

• Develop paternity analysistechniques and determinethe distribution of paternity(spatio-temporal proximity ofmale-female pairs).

• Estimate the effects ofspecies and multiplication siteon pollen contamination infield regeneration plots.Substantial information existson the extent of geneflow andits dependence on wind andpollinating insects, but thereis little data on regionalvariation. By assessing pollencontamination from the samegenotypes in a range ofEuropean environments, theproject will contribute newinformation that is alsorelevant to discussions onthe release of GeneticallyModified Organisms (GMOs).

• Disseminate information tousers and maintainers ofgenetic resources.

The first two years of the projecthave involved setting upexperiments and collecting datathat is now being analysed.Following the involvement ofIPGRI in the mid-term review ofthis project, regular contact will bemaintained to utilise IPGRI’sexperience and to maximisetransfer of ICONFORS knowledgeand technology to Europeangenebank curators and users.ICONFORS will benefit fromadvice on the economics of PGRmanagement, particularly withregard to the correct calculation ofthe costs of regeneration, toensure that these are comparableamong multiplication sites. Thepossibility was raised ofextrapolating ICONFORS resultsand linking them to those obtainedfrom other available (tropical)forage species in order toformulate more genericconclusions and recommendationsfor the regeneration/multiplicationof forage species. Visitwww.igergru.bbsrc.ac.uk/iconfors/index.htm for more information.

European Cooperative Programme for CropEuropean Cooperative Programme for CropEuropean Cooperative Programme for CropEuropean Cooperative Programme for CropEuropean Cooperative Programme for Crop

"ICONFORS addressesthe global problem of

maintaining germplasmcollections in ways that

optimise theconservation of genetic

resources. This EUfunded project is

producing and collatinginformation on practical,

economic and geneticaspects of rejuvenating

seed collections offorage species across ...

Europe to enable thedevelopment of effectivestrategies for maintaining

accessions andencourage their use forresearch and breeding."

hypogea and also includes 30accessions collected by N.I.Vavilov himself, in the first half ofthe last century.

Participants exchangedinformation on seed conservationmethods - in Hungary and Russiathe whole pod is kept in coldstorage to guarantee longer termconservation, while in Bulgaria thepod is discarded and only the seedis conserved to better ensure itsviability and to reduce the volumeof samples stored. The agronomicmethodology for evaluating thegermplasm, including the detailedevaluation standards currently inuse at IPGR, Sadovo, waspresented and proposed as abasis for adopting comparableevaluation methods in the variouscountries.

The meeting concluded withthe participants agreeing tocontribute to the development of acentralized database at IPGRSadovo. Participants will send thedatabase manager, Dr S. Georiev(stanko@ipgr-bg.org) availablepassport data of varieties/breedinglines conserved in Europe/Mediterranean, according to theEURISCO catalogue standards, asdefined by the European EPGRISproject (www.ecpgr.cgiar.org/EPGRIS/Index.htm). Thecharacterization data of eight

descriptors considered as themost useful for the initialidentification of material ofpotential interest for breeders willalso be collated and maintainedas a priority of the database.These descriptors include: plantgrowth habit; main stem growthhabit; flowering pattern; days tomaturity; days to flowering;number of seeds per pod; colourof seed cover; and weight of 1000seeds.

A report of the meeting,including all national contributions,is currently under preparation atthe ECP/GR Secretariat andcopies can be requested fromipgri-ecpgr@cgiar.org.

Mid-term review of the EU-funded ICONFORS project

Ad hoc meeting on Groundnut genetic resourcesWithin the framework of the GrainLegumes Network, an ad hocmeeting on European Arachisgenetic resources was held 15-16November 2002 in Plovdiv,Bulgaria. The meeting was hostedby the Institute for Plant GeneticResources “K. Malkov” (IPGR), inSadovo, where the collection andimprovement of Arachisgermplasm began as far back asthe 19

th century. The meeting

aimed at promoting the creation ofa European Arachis databasewithin IPGR, and strengtheningcooperation on documentation,conservation and use ofgroundnut genetic resources.Experts from nine European andMediterranean countries (Bulgaria,Greece, Hungary, Israel,Morocco, Portugal, Romania,Russian Federation and Turkey),in which groundnut germplasm iscultivated and collections held,participated in the meeting – eitherdirectly or via a writtencontribution.

From the information gatheredat the meeting, it is estimated thattogether these countries conservemore than 3000 Arachisaccessions in their genebanks. Inparticular, the Russian collection(1788 accessions) holds samplesoriginating from the wholedistribution area of Arachis

IPGRI Newsletter for Europe

IPGRI Newsletter for Europe1111111111

The “Alnarp Workshop”may be considered themost important gathering ofEuropean experts in PGRsince the EuropeanSymposium held in June1998 in Braunschweig,Germany. It is anticipatedthat this Workshop willbecome an important

stepping stone in promoting thedevelopment and strengthening ofnational PGR programmesthroughout Europe.

Nearly 100 PGR experts from39 countries, including stateorganizations as well as theprivate sector/NGOs, andrepresentatives from IPGRI andFAO, convened 24-26 April inAlnarp, Sweden. Their objectiveswere to “exchange experiences indesigning and implementingNational Programmes; summarize

the current status of NationalProgrammes; discuss andfacilitate the implementation of therelevant international agreements;identify major constraints in designand implementation; and developcommon recommendations”.

The workshop opened with anintroductory address by JensWeibull and Eva Jansson(Swedish Biodiversity Centre /National Programme for PlantGenetic Resources - POM) andkeynote speeches by Roland vonBothmer (SLU), Murthi Anishetty(FAO) and Jozef Turok (IPGRI).Three case studies were thenpresented, providing an extensiveoverview of the situation andorganization of PGR activities inBrazil, Canada and France.

Participants then broke intodiscussion groups organizedaccording to the “Open SpaceTechnology (visitwww.openspaceworld.org)focusing on topics suggested bythe participants, including: buildingand implementing a national PGRprogramme; technical aspects ofPGR collection management (on-farm, in situ and ex situ); PGRconservation and use; strategiesfor improving public awareness,training and education on PGR;definition of research priorities forPGR; and perspectives ininternational cooperation.

Outcomes of thesediscussions and the resultingproposals were distributed to allparticipants and it was agreed thatthe discussions had been highlyparticipatory, useful andchallenging, highlighting commonlyheld views and concerns acrossthe region. Participants voiced thatalthough they may “come homewith more questions thananswers”, they felt strengthenedby exchanging ideas and lookedforward to maintaining anddeveloping contacts. Thechallenge will be to integrate theresults of the Workshop into theirown activities, and to achieve theexpected impact “to attract abroader acceptance and strongercommitment from decision-makersin each country”.

To raise awareness on theimportance of long-term support

for work on genetic resources, abrief statement calling forsustainable conservation and useof European genetic resourceswas prepared. After the(expected) final adoption by allparticipants, it is hoped that this“Alnarp Statement” will contributeto reversing the global falling trendin the funding of activities andprojects on genetic resources.

The final plenary session inthe afternoon of 26 April includedpersonal reflections by JaapHardon raising the issue of“Where do we go from here?”. Heconcluded that the establishmentof an integrated system for PGRconservation in Europe is the mainchallenge faced, andrecommended that the PGRcommunity promote the use ofPGR in the public domain - andnot allow these resources tobecome subject to exclusivecorporate and shareholders’interests. The need for a follow-up meeting was acknowledged bythe Organizing Committee whoindicated that they would meet todiscuss a second Workshopdedicated to assessing theprogress made since the “Alnarpexperience” and to identify furthersteps to be taken.

The proceedings of theWorkshop will be published in timefor the Ninth Meeting of the ECP/GR Steering Committee inOctober 2003, and will include thepresentations, summary reports ofthe discussion sessions, briefcountry summary reports andposter abstracts.

This Workshop report wouldnot be complete withoutmentioning the socioculturalaspects, and participantsresponded with enthusiasm to thechallenge offered by theorganizing committee to hold a“World Food Party” offering avariety of gastronomic delightsfrom all the countries represented.Visits were also made to the SLUDepartment of Crop Science andthe spectacular park of the Alnarpcampus, the Nordic Gene Bankand the recently establishedAlnarp Garden for Rehabilitation,and the Fredriksdal Open-AirMuseum in Helsingborg.

Genetic Resources Networks Genetic Resources Networks Genetic Resources Networks Genetic Resources Networks Genetic Resources Networks http://www.ecpgr.cgiar.orghttp://www.ecpgr.cgiar.orghttp://www.ecpgr.cgiar.orghttp://www.ecpgr.cgiar.orghttp://www.ecpgr.cgiar.org

The next ECP/GR Steering Committee meeting, due at the end ofPhase VI (1999-2003), will be the occasion to evaluate progressmade by the Programme in the last five years. This will include theattempt to achieve greater coordination within the crop networks andthe expansion of activities in seven new Working Groups (Beta,Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, Potato, Solanaceae, Umbellifer crops,Vitis and Wheat) and in new crops (Arachis, Cucurbits, Flax, Hemp,and Leafy vegetables etc). New activities initiated within the thematicnetworks (Inter-regional cooperation and in situ/on-farm conservationand management) will also be evaluated. Discussing the overallstrategy for Phase VII of ECP/GR will also be on the agenda, basedon a survey undertaken by a Steering Committee task force inconsultation with relevant actors of the ECP/GR community. A set ofdraft recommendations for the future already indicate that the nextphase could focus on five proposed priorities: documentation; theapplication of high technology (molecular markers, genomics); tasksharing; characterization and evaluation; in situ and on-farmconservation.A possible new mode of operation will also be analyzed, based uponthe survey results which stressed the importance of the WorkingGroups continuing as operational units and their meetings asessential fora for effective collaboration. Focusing the limited funds onpriority actions will probably require the definition of a mechanism toselect the most deserving activities at any given time, rather thanattempting to financially sustain the permanent operation of a verylarge structure with the current ten Networks and 15 WorkingGroups.Other issues open for discussion include the need to be moreproactive in securing funds for projects, and through proposingcloser interaction with the European Commission. The possiblecontribution of ECP/GR in implementing international PGR policyagreements and the Global Plan of Action in Europe will also be part ofthe agenda. An input towards defining the future activities of ECP/GRis also expected from the results of the European Workshop on PGRnational programmes in Alnarp, Sweden (see adjacent article).The ninth meeting of the ECP/GR Steering Committee is scheduled22-25 October 2003 at the Aegean Agricultural Research Institute,Izmir, Turkey. National Coordinators of 35 ECP/GR member countrieswill be invited, together with observers from the International SeedFederation, EuroMaB (Man and Biosphere), European Commission,FAO, IPGRI, the Nordic Gene Bank, an NGO representative anddelegates from potential member countries. A full report of thismeeting will be published in the next issue of the Newsletter.

9th ECP/GR Steering Committee meeting

European Workshop on National PGR Programmes

Workshop participants on anexcursion to Fredriksdal Open-air Museum, Helsingborg (Photo:IPGRI)

1212121212IPGRI Newsletter for Europe

Conservation & use of native tropical fruit biodiversity in AsiaDr Bhag MalIPGRI Sub-Regional Office forSouth AsiaNew Delhi, India

News from the Regions...News from the Regions...News from the Regions...News from the Regions...News from the Regions...

Asia is rich in diversity of tropicalfruit species, particularly in Southand Southeast Asia, boasting over400 edible species. Thisenormous diversity of bothcultivated and wild species isimportant for the well being of thepeople, owing to their role inproviding supplemental food,balanced diets and enhancinghousehold incomes andemployment, particularly forwomen. Some species havespecific uses as medicine, timber,fuel wood and livestock feed. Theregion is a centre of diversity offruits such as banana, citrus,durian, jackfruit, litchi, mango andrambutan. In addition, a largenumber of minor fruit species aregrown in small farms andorchards, backyards and marginallands. However, the geneticdiversity of tropical fruits has notbeen sufficiently documented, andunderutilized and wild species arepoorly represented in thecollections. A few attempts havebeen made to documentindigenous knowledge and theexisting diversity is seriouslythreatened.Realizing the scope of researchand development, the importanceof tropical fruits and the need topromote their conservation anduse in Asia, the IPGRI RegionalOffice for Asia, the Pacific andOceania (APO) is undertakingseveral activities on tropical fruits,including:• Identifying priority genepools

of major and minor fruit treespecies of national andregional importance.

• Gathering information on thedistribution and diversity ofpriority species, status ofcollections, evaluation,documentation, maintenance,conservation and utilization.

• Supporting research ondevelopment of conservationtechniques and their adoptionin national programmes andgenetic diversity studies toassess the status of diversity,genetic threat, and the need topromote in situ conservation.

• Strengthening humanresource development,organizing training courses onconservation and use oftropical fruit species,consultation meetings andworkshops.

• Promoting national, regionaland international collaborationto facilitate networking andinformation dissemination.

Priority species consisting ofmajor (citrus, rambutan andmango) and minor fruits (durian,jackfruit and litchi) as well as a fewothers of local importance(carambola, longan andmangosteen), have been identifiedfor further research anddevelopment activities, with anemphasis on genetic resourcesconservation and use. Incollaboration with IPGRI-APO,several national programmes intropical Asia have collectedvaluable information on thedistributionrange of thegeneticdiversity ofcultivated andwildgenepools,and identifiedthe status ofgermplasmcollection,evaluation,documentation,conservation, improvement andutilization,health, and production.Processing and marketingaspects of these tropical fruitshave also been evaluated.

Genetic diversity in priorityfruit species has been collected indifferent countries, including 458accessions of mango, 286 ofcitrus,199 of rambutan,101 ofmangosteen, 40 of jackfruit and 27of litchi. A large number ofaccessions of priority fruit specieshave also been characterized andevaluated. To date, this includes atotal of 740 accessions of mango,1031 of citrus, 212 of rambutan,189 of litchi, 72 of jackfruit andelite material of mangosteen that

have been characterized indifferent countries.

The lack of trained staff is amajor problem limiting the effectiveconservation and use of tropicalfruits genetic resources. During1997-2003, eight training courseswere organized in which a total of99 scientists from 13 countrieswere trained in different areas ofPGR conservation.

IPGRI is also implementing anADB-funded project on‘Conservation and Use of NativeTropical Fruit Species Biodiversityin Asia’ in ten Asian countries,namely, Bangladesh, China, India,Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal, thePhilippines, Sri Lanka, Thailandand Vietnam. Development ofPhase II of this project is currentlyunderway. A project on the‘Development of SustainableConservation Technologies forTropical Fruits and RelatedSpecies’, funded by ACIAR was

Rambutans (Photo: B. Mal)

Jackfruits (Photo: B

. Mal)

also initiated in January 2003.Involving partners from Australia,Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailandand Vietnam, this aims atdeveloping methods of in vitroconservation andcryopreservation and developingalternative conservation andregeneration strategies for priorityspecies. Another project on’Conservation and Use of TropicalFruit Species Diversity in thePhilippines’ funded by Departmentof Agricuture-Bureau ofAgricultural Research (DA-BAR)has also been initiated.Please contact Bhag Mal(b.mal@cgiar.org) at the IPGRISub-Regional Office for SouthAsia for more information.

1313131313IPGRI Newsletter for Europe

The first step towards establishing new links in the field of PGRconservation in Southeastern Europe was made 28-29 April 2003 atthe Nordic Gene Bank (NGB) in Alnarp, Sweden. A meeting involving11 delegates from five western Balkan countries (Albania, Croatia,Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro,Slovenia) and IPGRI followed the European Workshop on NationalPGR Programmes (see page 11). Delegates identified the need tojumpstart regional collaboration in order to promote and enable thesustainable conservation of PGR. This shared vision will boost theeffectiveness of individual national efforts towards the protection ofPGR by fostering linkages for mutual benefits within and betweennational programmes and partners, and also serve as a powerfulmotivator.The meeting was organized with support from the SwedishInternational Development Authority (SIDA), NGB and the SwedishBiodiversity Centre, who also participated in the meeting. The primaryfocus was on the needs and conservation priorities of the countries ofSoutheast Europe, in light of the possible establishment of a regionalcooperative network on PGR with backing from SIDA.Country presentations on the current status of national programmesfrom the countries represented provided the basis for plenarydiscussions on a number of issues related to the regionalimplementation recommendations of the Global Plan of Action (GPA)for PGR.Five long-term priorities emerged from the debate as being of equallyhigh importance for all regional participants. This includes, inter alia: alack of adequate equipment; a strong need for developing adequatedocumentation; a need for additional training and education; fosteringresearch and supporting collecting efforts; support for PGRconservation efforts; and the sustainable use of PGR. According tothe mutually agreed Memorandum of Understanding, NGB will beresponsible for all technical consultations in the preparatory andcollaboration phases.Participants agreed that the regional network will be governed by aSteering Committee responsible for setting priorities for the regionalnetwork and establishing an annual working plan and budget. It willalso serve as the official representative body for the programme onbehalf of the participating countries.A group from Sweden, chaired by the NGB, is set to visit the regionfor country consultations in early September 2003 which will befollowed by a regional workshop in Ohrid, Macedonia (FYR) to finalisethe agreement details in October/November. For more information onthis initiative please contact Eva Thörn (eva@ngb.se) or visitwww.ngb.se.

Mr Vladimir PekicMaize Research InstituteZemun PoljeSerbia & Montenegro

“I am greatly encouraged... Thegenerous offer from our Swedish

friends will help make this project atrue success.”

New Hope for World’s Threatened Agricultural Heritage

Sweden backs the launch of aSoutheastern Europe regional Network

World leaders in agriculture met inearly 2003 to chart a courseforward for an unprecedentedeffort to protect, and conservehumanity’s agricultural heritage.Crop diversity collections housedin some 1470 “genebanks” holdmillions of plant samples that arethe underpinning of a stable andsustainable food supply. Thesesamples are the result of 10 000years of planting, plowing, andbreeding of crops for human use.

Many of these collections areseriously underfunded,jeopardizing the ongoing securityof agriculture and the world’sability to feed itself. In response,

the Global Conservation Trust iscreating a permanent endowmentto conserve in perpetuity thesecrop diversity collections.Spearheaded by the FutureHarvest Centres of theConsultative Group onInternational Agricultural Research(CGIAR) and the United NationsFood and Agriculture Organization(FAO), the Trust convened thefirst meeting of a newly constitutedInterim Panel of Experts indevelopment, agriculture, andscience. The Panel consideredrules of governance for the Trustand drafted ethical guidelines forthe receipt, management anddisbursement of funds.

“Crop diversity is a little knownnecessity for meeting the mostfundamental need of humankind:the need for food,” said LouiseFresco, Assistant Director-General of FAO. “I am pleasedthat this important effort is movingforward under the guidance andleadership of such an eminentarray of scientists and statesmen.They will provide the necessarypolitical, financial, and technicalguidance to shape the Trust.”

The Panel also sounded thealarm about the need forgovernments and the privatesector around the world to takeurgent actions to help protectglobal crop diversity.

“Funding for crop diversitycollections has always been hand-to-mouth, most often decided on ayear-to-year basis,” saidAmbassador Fernando Gerbasi,Chair of the Interim Panel of theTrust. “The situation is now evenmore dire given world economies.An outbreak of armed conflictanywhere in the world coulddamage critical collections of cropdiversity, and divert scarcefunding from their maintenance.The world cannot let theinfrastructure that underlies ourfood security crumble.”Ambassador Gerbasi successfullychaired the inter-governmentalnegotiations that led last year tothe creation of the InternationalTreaty on Plant GeneticResources for Food andAgriculture.

“All countries are

interdependent when it comes toagriculture and when onegenebank falls, the lossreverberates around the world.Last year, Afghanistan’s maingenebank was looted. The MiddleEast is the centre of origin forcritical crops such as wheat,barley, peas, and lentils” saidGeoffrey Hawtin, InterimExecutive Secretary of the Trustand Director General of theIPGRI. “That genebank, like somany others, probably containedplant varieties that are alreadyextinct in the wild and which nowmay be lost forever.”

The meeting of the InterimPanel in Rome confirmed theTrust’s critical role in implementingthe International Treaty. TheTreaty, adopted in November2001 by consensus of the UnitedNations Food and AgricultureOrganization’s 140-membernations, is the highest internationallaw addressing the conservationof plant genetic resources.

“The Global ConservationTrust operates within theframework of the InternationalTreaty,” said Gerbasi. “Itsprinciples of transparency andequity will be the Trust’s guidingprinciples. At the same time, theTrust could provide a concretefunding mechanism to help realizethe goals of the Treaty.”

The Interim Panel consideredkey issues regarding the Trust’slegal status, governing structure,ethical guidelines for acceptingdonations, and eligibility criteria forevaluating requests for funds. TheTrust seeks to raise anendowment of US$ 260 million.The Trust has received real orexpressed commitments to date ofabout US$ 88 million from privateand public sector sources,including the governments ofColombia, Egypt, Brazil, Australia,Switzerland, the United States, theUnited Nations and GatsbyFoundations. It is expected thatthe Trust will reach its first goal ofUS$100 million by the end of 2003.The first call for proposals will takeplace in mid-2004 with the initialgrants awarded at the year end.

For more information visit:http://startwithaseed.org

IPGRI goes bananas with a new Director General“I firmly believe that although we work with plants, people are thecentre of our interests,” said Dr Frison, “and we will continue to helpthem conserve and make use of plant genetic resources to gain abetter standard of living.”

The IPGRI Board of Trustees ispleased to announce theappointment of Emile Frison asIPGRI’s Director GeneralDesignate.

As one of the 16 FutureHarvest Centers of theConsultative Group onInternational AgriculturalResearch, IPGRIs mandate is touse crop diversity to advancesustainable development. Emile iscurrently Director of theInternational Network for theImprovement of Banana andPlantain (INIBAP), one of IPGRI’sthree programmes. He has beenresponsible for giving addedimpetus to research on bananasand plantains, the world’s fourthmost important staple crop. In1997, he launched the GlobalProgramme for MusaImprovement (PROMUSA), whichbrought together researchers andgrowers with an interest inbananas and plantains. In 2002 helaunched the Global Consortiumon Musa Genomics with 27members from 14 countries,whose goal is to decode thegenetic sequence of the bananaand use it to improve the varietiesavailable to smallholder farmers.

Emile is a Belgian national whohas spent most of his career in

international agricultural research,including 18 years of work relatedto PGR. He obtained an MSc inplant pathology from the CatholicUniversity of Louvain and a PhDfrom the University of Gemblouxin Belgium. Emile worked for sixyears in Africa and wasDevelopment Manager of anagrochemical company in Belgiumfor three years. He joined IPGRI in1987 to coordinate research onplant health aspects ofinternational transfers of plantdiversity. In 1992, as RegionalDirector for Europe, he initiated anew phase of ECP/GR and incollaboration with FAO, and alsolaunched EUFORGEN in 1994.

IPGRI is a decentralizedorganization, with more than 200staff in some 20 countries andresearch interests in many more.“This is one of IPGRI’s greatstrengths,” said Dr Frison. “In thefuture the Institute will build on itsunique way of working to reinforceour existing partnerships and buildnew ones. For example, IPGRI’swork was crucial in securing theadoption of the International

Treaty on Plant GeneticResources for Food andAgriculture. Now we need to carryon working with nationalprogrammes to help them developthe policies they need toimplement the Treaty and to makethe benefit sharing it envisages areality.” He singled out other areasin which IPGRI would moveforward, such as the use ofdiversity to improve nutrition andhealth, guidelines, policy andresearch to help people makesustainable use of forests andtheir genetic resources, and theincreasing use of neglectedspecies to improve peoples’livelihoods.

“The Board is very pleasedthat Dr Frison has accepted ouroffer,” said Dr BenchaphunShinawatra Ekasingh of ChiangMai University in Thailand, chair ofIPGRI’s Board of Trustees. “Hecombines continuity with a clearvision for the future of IPGRI.”

Emile Frison will take over asDirector General of IPGRI on 1August 2003, when the term ofoffice of Dr Geoffrey Hawtin, thecurrent Director General, ends.

Genetics, and offers the followingone year course:

M.Sc. in Conservation andUtilisation of Plant GeneticResources (in collaboration withthe Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew)

If you would like to know moreabout the courses at Birmingham,sponsorship and how to apply,please contact Admissions on Tel:+44 (0)121 414 5890; Fax: +44(0)121 414 5463; Emailn.maxted@bham.ac.uk or write tothe School of Biosciences,University of Birmingham,Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT,U.K.

Admission requirementsinclude a good degree in Biology,Botany, Agriculture or a relevant

The challenge for the world’sbotanical, agricultural, andconservation scientists is toinventory biodiversity, halt speciesand genetic extinctions as well asfeed an ever increasingpopulation. The economic, politicaland social consequences of asteady loss of biodiversitycombined with rapid populationgrowth is potentially catastrophic,while the potential benefits tohumankind of conservation andsustained exploitation of theworld’s genetic diversity arepotentially limitless. Is thischallenge one you wish to addressin your future career? The Schoolof Biosciences, University ofBirmingham, UK has a leadinginternational training reputation inthe field of Conservation and

The Aston Webb Building,Birmingham University Campus,www.bham.ac.uk

subject and proficiency in English.Studentships are available forEuropean and Non-Europeannationals and the closing date forapplications is 30 July 2003.

Dr Emile Frison, IPGRI's newDirector General

Post-graduate courses in plant conservation and genetics

1414141414IPGRI Newsletter for Europe

Hussein Mrad, mukhtar, or headman, of the village of Ham, with hiswife Imali and Dr Wafa Khouri , a partner in IPGRI’s research. Ham,high on the slopes of the Beka’a valley, is one of the study sites of theNear East Drylands Agrobiodiversity Project. The project is working toidentify new opportunities for the people of Ham, and has improvedbee-keeping and the marketing of honey. Better honey enhances thelivelihoods of the farmers in the region and helps to conserve localwild and domesticated plants.

How many words is a picture worth?

TheEuropegroup ishappy towelcomeAixa DelGrecowho hasbeen appointed

as Scientific Assistant to theEuropean CooperativeProgramme for Crop GeneticResources Networks (ECP/GR).Aixa holds a Masters degree ininternational communication fromthe University of Lille and aLaurea in biology from theUniversity of Pavia, Italy. Shehas work experience in publicrelations at a logistics andtransport company in Spain.During the past two years shewas employed as juniorprofessional officer at ICARDA inAleppo where she worked inbarley improvement with DrCeccarelli at the Germplasm Unitof ICARDA. Aixa is an Italiannational and is fluent in English,French and Spanish.

Polish Vegetable Crops Research BulletinThe Editorial Board of Vegetable Crops Research Bulletin, publishedand distributed by the Research Institute of Vegetable Crops (RIVC),Skierniewice, Poland, kindly invite scientists and authors to publish theirresearch works in this journal.The journal includes various aspects of vegetable crops researchincluding:• Biotechnology and conventional plant breeding;• open field crop cultivation and covered organic farming;• soil management and plant nutrition;• plant-water relations;• glasshouse climate and soil biology;• weed science, pests and diseases;• growth regulators;• post-harvest physiology and quality evaluation;• storage technology and seed science;• mushroom cultivation; and• economics and management research.

Contributions to the publication are refereed and included in the CABabstracts. Institutions and libraries can be added to the interlibraryexchange mailing list to receive free copies. Contact:bulletin@inwarz.skierniewice.pl.

Dr Jeremy CherfasScience WriterIPGRI HQRome, Italy

their home, how much moreinvolved we’ll feel if we know weare looking at ‘Monica SaliKivindyo, a farmer in Manyenyonivillage in the Kitue District inKenya’, rather than ‘a participant inthe project’?

The more information you canprovide with an image, the moreuseful it becomes. It gives thechance to write a long or a shortcaption. It helps to put the picturein context. It can even make thedifference between an awarepublic and an indifferent one.

Many readers will be aware of theidea that one picture is worth 1000words. In public awareness apowerful image is often the bestbait for attracting interest to a

story. Even if theydon’t read to theend, the illustrationitself can give abrief summary ofwhat we are tryingto say. But to dothat, it has to bemore than a goodpicture: it has to beinformativelycaptioned.

As you are taking all those goodphotographs, please try to findtime to make notes that can beused to describe the image. It is alot easier than relying on memory.What sorts of notes? Well, theobvious things, like where thepicture was taken and what itshows - but also people’s names.For public awareness, this isalmost the most important factneeded for a caption.

When we see anotherperson’s face, we want to knowwho they are. It is our curiosityabout other people that drives somany of the stories we write andeven more, the ones we read.Even if there is no chance we willever meet that person, or travel to

Nicolai Ivanovich Vavilov (1887 -1943). One of the mostoutstanding scientists of thetwentieth century: a biologist,geneticist, geographer, explorer,agronomist and plant breeder.www.vir.nw.ru

Introducing...

1515151515IPGRI Newsletter for Europe

Scientists from Iran and Turkey have been awarded the 2003 Frankel-Vavilovfellowships to study aspects of plant diversity.Parvin Salehi Shanjani (pictured right) of the Research Institute of Forests andRangelands, Iran will carry out a study entitled “Analysis of genetic diversity and

gene flow of Oriental Beech (Fagus orientalisLipsky) populations as the basis for developmentof silvicultural and gene conservation strategy inIran”. This work on Oriental Beech, of majoreconomical importance in Iran, will be undertakenat the Plant Genetics Institute, National ResearchCouncil, Florence, Italy, under the supervision ofGiovanni G. Vendramin.Ahu Altinkut Uncuoglu (pictured left) of theTubitak Research Institute for GeneticEngineering and Biotechnology (RIGEB), PlantBiotechnology Laboratory, Turkey will carry out a study entitled “Structuraland functional genomics of drought resistance in the progenitors of wheatand barley for crop improvement”. This work should help breeders to create

varieties that cope better with arid conditions and will be undertaken under the supervision of Eviatar Nevoat the University of Haifa, Israel.IPGRI established the fellowships to commemorate the contributions made to plant science by NikolaiIvanovich Vavilov of Russia and Sir Otto Frankel of Australia. Vavilov was one of the first scientists torecognize the value of diversity for crop improvement, while Frankel pointed out the importance of farmer-created varieties for plant breeding. Sir Otto was also instrumental in drawing world attention to theurgency of conserving crop diversity and played an instrumental role in the creation of IPGRI. Thefellowships are intended to enable young scientists to carry out relevant and innovative research outsidetheir own countries, thus contributing to the professional development of the fellows and to the ability oftheir countries to manage and conserve crop diversity. The first fellowships were awarded in 1993, and todate 22 scientists from 16 countries have benefited from the programme.In 2001 IPGRI assessed the impact of the first five years of this fellowship programme. The study revealedthat almost all the fellows continue to work in the PGR field as professional research scientists. In additionto gaining new skills themselves, many fellows were also able to use the experience they gained to guidetheir home institutions into new areas of research and to implement new technologies. One of the mostimportant benefits that the fellows identified was that the research they did during the fellowship enabledthem to go on to complete an advanced degree, usually a PhD. In addition, all of the fellows published theresults of their research in a journal or presented at an international conference, generating one or twopublications out of their research.The 2004 round of Fellowships will be announced in July with a closing date of 14 November 2003. Forfurther details on the Frankel-Vavilov Fellowship scheme, including application forms, contact:Vavilov-Frankel Fellowships, IPGRI, Via dei Tre Denari 472/a 00057 Maccarese (Fiumicino), Italy; Fax:+39-0661979661; Email: e.clancy@cgiar.org or visit www.ipgri.cgiar.org/training/vavilov.htm.Evaluating IPGRI’s Fellowship Programmes: An Analysis of the Vavilov-Frankel Fellowships and the Italian-funded Research Fellowships 1993 through 1998, by J. Watts and C. Battaglino, March, 2001 is availablefrom j.watts@cgiar.org

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REGIONAL OFFICEFOR EUROPEc/o IPGRI HeadquartersVia dei Tre Denari 472/a00057 MaccareseRome, ItalyFax: +39-0661979661http://www.ipgri.cgiar.org/regions/europe/home.htm

Jozef TurokRegional DirectorTel: 39-066118250Email: j.turok@cgiar.org

Michele BozzanoTemporary Scientific AssistantTel: 39-066118221Email: m.bozzano@cgiar.org

Muriel ColasProgramme AssistantTel: 39-066118229Email: m.colas@cgiar.org

Aixa Del GrecoScientific AssistantTel: 39-066118224Email: a.delgreco@cgiar.org

Lidwina KoopProgramme AssistantTel: 39-066118251Email: l.koop@cgiar.org

Jarkko KoskelaEUFORGEN CoordinatorTel: 39-066118223Email: j.koskela@cgiar.org

Brigitte LalibertéProgramme SpecialistCrop Genetic ResourcesTel: 39-066118244Email: b.laliberte@cgiar.org

Elinor LipmanScientific AssistantTel: 33-467611302Email: e.lipman@cgiar.org

Lorenzo MaggioniECP/GR CoordinatorTel: 39-066118231Email: l.maggioni@cgiar.org

Olga Spellman*Programme AssistantTel: 39-066118411Email: o.spellman@cgiar.org

(*part time)

Editing & Layout byHelen MalherbeFreelance Editor & ConsultantEmail:Lherbe@global.co.za

This newsletter isThis newsletter isThis newsletter isThis newsletter isThis newsletter isproduced by theproduced by theproduced by theproduced by theproduced by thestaff of thestaff of thestaff of thestaff of thestaff of theRegional OfficeRegional OfficeRegional OfficeRegional OfficeRegional Officefor Europefor Europefor Europefor Europefor Europe

21-26 July 2003Third European BotanicGardens Congress, EuroGardIII: At the Edges under theauspices of the EuropeanConsortium of nationalnetworks of European BotanicGardens within the BGCI andthe IABG. Meise, Belgium.congress@br.fgov.bewww.br.fgov.be/RESEARCH/MEETINGS/EUROGARD/index.html

28 Aug-2 Sept 2003Forest Research CrossingBorders. Joensuu, Finland.anu.ruusila@efi.fiwww.efi.fi/events/2003/10AC

4-6 September 2003International Symposium ongenetic and palaeogeneticapproaches in plant

palaeoecology andarchaeology.Bordeaux, France.reviron@pierroton.inra.frwww.perroton.inra.fr/Paleo/index.htm

19-22 September 2003Safeguard for AgriculturalVarieties in EuropeAnnual meeting of SAVEFoundation & SAVE 10-yearjubilee. Cavalese Val diFiemme, Italy.office@save-foundation.netwww.save-foundation.net/deutsch/aktuell.htm

21-28 September 2003XII World Forestry CongressQuebec, Canada.sec-gen@cfm2003.orgwww.cfm2003.org

25-30 September 2003Global Summit on MedicinalPlants, Mauritius.cenfound@sparrl.comcenfound@yahoo.co.ukwww.cenfound.org/global/gloabl.html

5-6 November 2003Rothamsted InternationalBioMarket - BioProducts fromPlants and MicrobesRothamsted, UK.BioMarket@bbsrc.ac.ukwww.BioMarket.rothamsted.ac.uk

13-15 November 2003La biodiversité végétale - desplantes pour l’avenir.Association Française pour laConservation des EspècesVégétales. www.brg.prd.frAFCEV@jardin-bota.uhp-nancy.fr

Forthcoming MeetingsForthcoming MeetingsForthcoming MeetingsForthcoming MeetingsForthcoming Meetings

Researchers from Iran and Turkey awarded Vavilov-FrankelFellowships