Extension of EURISCO for Crop Wild Relatives (CWR) in situ data and preparation of pilot countries’ data sets

Short title: CWR in EURISCO

 The project CWR data in EURISCO is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture.

Activity Coordinator: ECPGR Secretariat

Project partners

Albania, Agricultural University of Tirana
Bulgaria, Institute for Plant Genetic Resource, Sadovo
Cyprus, Agricultural Research Institute, Lefkosia
Czech Republic, Crop Research Institute, Gene Bank, Prague, Czech Republic
Germany, Information and Coordination Centre for Biological Diversity (IBV), Bonn; and Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK), Gatersleben
Italy, Istituto di Bioscienze e Biorisorse (IBBR-CNR), Bari; Department of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Science, University of Perugia; and Council for Agricultural Research and Economics, Research Centre for Forestry and Wood (CREA-FL), Trento
Lithuania, Nature Research Centre, Vilnius
The Netherlands, Centre for Genetic Resources (CGN), Wageningen
Portugal, Banco Português de Germoplasma Vegetal - Instituto Nacional de Investigação Agrária e Veterinária (BPGV-INIAV), Braga
Spain, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Madrid
United Kingdom, University of Birmingham

Timeframe

20 Dicember 2021 – 31 December 2024
 

Highlights

Principles for the Inclusion of CWR Data in EURISCO

Prepared by Theo van Hintum and José Iriondo

Template for in situ CWR passport data in EURISCO

MS Excel template to be used by In Situ National Inventory Focal Points for upload to EURISCO of CWR population data

Implementation

January 2024
In situ CWR data from Bulgaria, Cyprus, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain can now be searched on EURISCO. Data from additional pilot countries involved in the project will be soon made available.

November-December 2023

  • An online meeting of the project partners was held on 12 December 2023. This was dedicated to updating on the progress made and to exchanging views and experiences regarding the selection of in situ populations to be uploaded on EURISCO. The main conclusions were that the selection of populations very much depends on each country's context and approach. The overall principle remains valid that populations need to be available to users “in principle”. This means that it is not advisable to include those populations that are so strictly protected by local legislation as being certainly unavailable for use. It was also observed that the inclusion of actively conserved populations is a possible option (either being specifically conserved and managed in genetic reserves, or informally conserved as being part of other types of protected areas). It is however also reasonable to include a selection of non-protected, non-managed, widely distributed crop wild relative populations, which may not require active conservation but may be of interest to potential users. Other topics were discussed, such as the need to back up in situ populations as ex situ samples. This practice is especially advisable for threatened populations, as well as for facilitating the transfer of material to users. It was also acknowledged that the cost of collecting and maintaining CWR populations ex situ would not be affordable for all the populations that may be of interest to users and ad hoc seed procurement could be a valid option in many cases. Strategies to involve a network of data providers and obtain collaboration and integration of efforts of different ministries and local authorities were touched on. A more detailed discussion of these and other aspects of the project was postponed in view of a potential physical meeting that the Secretariat will try to organize next year in March/April, depending on budget availability. The Bulgarian partner kindly offered to host the meeting.
    The presentations and video recording of the meeting are available below.      
  • Final technical reports are available for Albania (1,3 MB)Bulgaria (174,0 KB)Cyprus (867,3 KB) (selected taxa here and list of CWR sent to EURISCO here), the Czech Republic (2,9 MB) (passport data available here), IPK (971,6 KB)Italy (1,9 MB)Lithuania (1,5 MB) (together with the Lithuanian CWR priority list), the Netherlands (214,7 KB)Portugal (907,0 KB) and Spain (1,0 MB).

May 2023
The project interim report is available [here (611,3 KB)]. The individual interim partner/country reports are also available: Albania (1,7 MB), Bulgaria (137,8 KB), Cyprus (124,5 KB), Czech Republic (2,5 MB), IPK (410,8 KB), Italy (1,0 MB), Lithuania (1,1 MB), the Netherlands (117,9 KB), Portugal (602,0 KB), Spain (1,0 MB)and the United Kingdom (2,1 MB).

December 2022
Project partners met on 15 December in a session dedicated to CWR data in EURISCO during the ad hoc Crop Wild Relatives Working Group meeting, which took place in Thessaloniki, Greece. The agenda, list of participants, minutes and presentations can be found [here]

May 2022
The proposal setting the principles for the inclusion of CWR data in EURISCO, prepared by Theo van Hintum and José Iriondo, was agreed by the project partners and the EURISCO Advisory Committee. Download Principles for the Inclusion of CWR Data in EURISCO

February 2022
A draft proposal setting the ‘Principles for the Inclusion of CWR Data into EURISCO’ has been circulated among the project partners and the EURISCO Advisory Committee

December 2021
The project was approved by the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture. For more information read here

ECPGR Crop Wild Relatives Working Group