Promoting the implementation and the establishment of the European MAP Collection

Activity Coordinator: Ana Maria Barata  Email

The project "Promoting the implementation and the establishment of the European MAP Collection (MAP EUROCOLLECTION)", submitted by the Medicinal and Aromatic Plants Working Group for funding under the Activity Grant Scheme, was selected by the Executive Committee and approved in May 2016, with some adjustments as indicated in the Letter of award.

The ExCo approved the overall objective of the proposal, but requested to hold a meeting during which WG members should discuss a common approach for the definition of the European MAP Collection.  The meeting will be held 27-28 April 2017 in Braga, Portugal.

Implementation

February 2022
The Final Activity Report is available online [here]

May 2019
The duration of the Activity was extended till December 2019, with a budget revision for field activities.
This will allow not only the identification of the accessions that will integrate the EUROPEAN MAP COLLECTION as part of AEGIS, from the participating countries (Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Portugal and Romania), but also the multiplication, regeneration and safety duplication of  MAP species.

October 2018
Partners in the project have agreed to use available funds for collection, multiplication and safety duplication of MAP priority accessions, provided they are included into the European Collection as part of AEGIS. The work will be carried out and completed in 2019. Letters of Agreement are in preparation with Germany, Latvia, Portugal and Romania.

July 2018
The Interim Activity report is available below
- MAPEUROCOLLECTION Interim report (April 2017-April 2018) (597,3 KB)

January 2018
Further to the Activity meeting in April 2017, based on the analysis of MAP collection diversity in each country, the group will propose unique accessions to be included in the AEGIS European collection of MAPs, in consultation with collection managers and National Coordinators. Safety duplication measures will be prioritized for selected accessions.
Project members are preparing for multiplication of candidate AEGIS accessions in 2018 and for their inclusion in the European Collection.
Romania already flagged 54 MAP accessions as part of AEGIS. Other countries will follow. Other tasks are in progress. The Activity is expected to be completed by Autumn 2018.

April 2017
The MAP EUROCOLLECTION meeting was held 27-28 April 2017 in Braga, Portugal.  Participants from Czechia, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Norway, Portugal and Slovenia presented updates of their national collections, and discussed and agreed criteria for inclusion of accessions in the (AEGIS) European Collection. They also revised the crop-specific standards to be used for orthodox seeds as part of the AEGIS Quality System. Based on the accumulated experience with the use of priority species descriptors, the group decided to start a revision and update process, including the finalization of missing descriptors for Achillea millefolium, Artemisia absinthium and Gentiana lutea. Use of remaining available funds from the Activity budget was discussed and Activity partners drafted a workplan for multiplication of candidate AEGIS accessions, which is going to be re-confirmed a few weeks after the meeting.

ECPGR Medicinal and Aromatic Plants Working Group