|
Global Plan of Action 1.
Plant genetic resources for food and agriculture provide the
biological basis for world food security, and support the
livelihoods of every person on Earth. These
resources serve as the plant breeder's most important raw
material and the farmer's most essential input. They
are therefore essential for sustainable agricultural production.
Properly
managed, these resources need never be depleted, for there
is no inherent incompatibility between conservation and utilization.
The
conservation, sustainable utilization, and fair and equitable
sharing of benefits from their use is both an international
concern and imperative. These,
moreover, are basic aims of the Convention on Biological Diversity.
In
reaffirming the sovereign rights of states over their biological
resources, we highlight the fact that formulating an agreed
Global Plan of Action addressing plant genetic resources for
food and agriculture is an appropriate manifestation of the
international community's concern and responsibility in this
area. 2.
In 1983, the FAO Conference established the intergovernmental
Commission on Plant Genetic Resources (now the Commission
on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture), and adopted
a nonbinding International Undertaking on Plant Genetic Resources,
which, is being revised by the Commission in harmony with
the Convention on Biological Diversity. Presently,
the Global System for the Conservation and Utilization of
Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture includes
the Commission, other international agreements, including
the abovementioned International Undertaking, technical mechanisms
and global instruments at different stages of development.
3.
The Global Plan of Action is part of the FAO Global System
for the Conservation and Sustainable Utilization of Plant
Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, and an important
element for the Commission in fulfilling its mandate, though
requiring also other important elements to complete it. Agenda
21 and the Commission requested the development of a rolling
Global Plan of Action on Plant Genetic Resources for Food
and Agriculture, with programmes and activities aimed at filling
in gaps, overcoming 11 Global Plan of Action constraints
and facing emergency situations identified in the FAO Report
on the State of the World's Plant Genetic Resources. The
periodically updated Plan will permit the Commission to recommend
priorities and to promote the rationalization and coordination
of efforts. 4.
The Global Plan of Action will cover the subset of plant genetic
resources pertaining specifically to food and agriculture.
The
Conference of Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity
at its Second Session in 1995 declared its support for the
development of a Plan "for Food and Agriculture'' through
the preparatory process of the Fourth International Technical
Conference on Plant Genetic Resources. 5.
In its Sixth Session, the Commission agreed "that the contribution
of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture to world
food security should be emphasized, in the context of sustainable
agriculture, and that the special nature and needs of agriculture
should be stressed.'' The Second Extraordinary Session of
the Commission "agreed that forestry would not be included
in the Global Plan of Action to be discussed for adoption
at the Leipzig Conference, on the understanding that this
matter could be considered in future, in the light of the
work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Forestry established
by the Commission on Sustainable Development on this issue.''
Future refinements or elaborations of the Plan could include
other subsets of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture.
6.
A global plan of action will make significant and increasingly
important contributions to the efforts to promote world food
security. The
rationale for a Global Plan of Action specifically for food
and agriculture 7.
A discrete Global Plan of Action for Plant Genetic Resources
for Food and Agriculture is warranted because of their great
importance to world food security and, within the wider context
of biological diversity, because of several features of this
particular form of biodiversity. (a)
Many plant genetic resources for food and agriculture are
the result of human intervention: that is, they have been
consciously selected and improved by farmers since the origins
of agriculture. In
more recent times, plant breeders have built on this rich
diversity with striking effect. Sustainable
management of these resources requires particular strategies
sensitive to their unique nature. Unlike
most natural biodiversity, these resources require continuous
active human management. (b)
In situ diversity of many plant genetic resources for food
and agriculture, especially of food crops, is often concentrated
in particular parts of the world distinct from areas rich
in other forms of biodiversity. These
socalled "centres of diversity'' are, nevertheless, still
largely located in developing countries. (c)
Because of the diffusion of agriculture and the association
of major crops with human migrations, many crop genes, genotypes,
and populations have spread all over the planet since ancient
times. They
have continued to be developed and improved without interruption
ever since by farmers both inside and far away from the historic
centres of original domestication. Moreover,
plant genetic resources for food and agriculture have 12 Global
Plan of Action been
systematically collected and exchanged for some 500 years.
Millions
of accessions are now stored in hundreds of genebanks around
the world for both conservation and utilization purposes.
(d)
The interdependence of countries is particularly high with
respect to crop genetic resources. The
food and agricultural production systems of all countries
are heavily - even predominantly - dependent on genetic resources
of plants domesticated elsewhere and subsequently developed
in other countries and regions over hundreds or thousands
of years. Consequently,
the ways and means of "sharing the benefits'' of these genetic
resources for food and agriculture are fundamentally different
from the approaches that might be appropriate for recently
discovered "wild'' or medicinal plants. (e)
Plant genetic resources for food and agriculture are underconserved
and underutilized. (f)
Activities related to in situ conservation, to ex situ conservation,
and to utilization of plant genetic resources for food and
agriculture are, to a large extent, carried out in parallel
without adequate linkages and coordination. A
Global Plan of Action should aim at improving this situation.
(g)
Despite the existence of a variety of sources of financing
for the conservation and sustainable use of plant genetic
resources for food and agriculture, there are still gaps,
overlaps, inefficiencies and unnecessary redundancies in the
activities financed. In
addition, national programmes are at very different stages
of development, in their coverage of conservation and use
of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture. An
agreed Global Plan of Action could help to focus resources
on the priorities which have been identified at various levels,
and increase the overall effectiveness of global efforts.
Aims
and strategies of the Global Plan of Action 8.
At its Sixth Session, in 1995, the Commission agreed on a
general outline and approach to both the Report on the State
of the World's Plant Genetic Resources and the Global Plan
of Action. The
Commission stressed that the Global Plan of Action must be
actionoriented. Since
it would provide a strategy to guide international cooperation
on plant genetic resources for food and agriculture in the
coming years, it should be based on clear, but succinctly
stated, aims and principles, and include, inter alia, a strategy
and information on each proposed priority activity. It
agreed that the aims would refer to, and draw upon, as appropriate,
applicable international agreements. 9.
The main aims of the Global Plan of Action are: 10.
The Global Plan of Action is based on the assumption that
countries are fundamentally interdependent with respect to
plant genetic resources for food and agriculture and that
substantial international cooperation would be necessary to
meet the aims of the Plan effectively and efficiently. In
this context, the Global Plan of Action was developed within
a broad strategic framework comprised of six basic and interrelated
aspects: (a) A large and important amount of PGRFA, vital
to world food security, is stored ex situ. These
collections need to be developed effectively in coming years.
Securing
the safety of the genetic material already collected and providing
for its regeneration and safety duplication is a key strategic
element of the Global Plan of Action. Many
collections, however, are stored under inadequate conditions,
and as many as one million accessions may be in need of regeneration.
(b)
Linking conservation with utilization and identifying and
overcoming obstacles to the greater use of conserved plant
genetic resources for food and agriculture are necessary if
maximum benefits are to be attained from conservation efforts.
(c)
Enhancing capacity at all levels is a key strategy used in
the individual activities in the Global Plan. The
Plan seeks to promote the pragmatic and efficient use and
development of institutions, programmed human resources, cooperation,
and financial mechanisms. (d)
Strengthening the selection efforts of public and private
breeders, which are essential to the continued improvement
of PGRFA. (e)
In situ conservation and development of PGRFA occurs
in two contexts: onfarm and in nature. Farmers
and their communities play a crucial role. It
is important to better understand and improve the effectiveness
of onfarm management of PGRFA. Improving
the effectiveness of farmer/community level conservation,
management, development and use of PGRFA is essential to facilitate
the sharing of benefits arising from the utilization of these
resources. Enhancing
the capacity of farmers and their communities through linkages
to extension agencies, the private sector, NGOs and farmerowned
cooperatives would help promote food security, particularly
among the many rural people who live in areas of low agricultural
potential. Wild
relatives of crop plants also require better protection through
improved landuse practices. (f)
Conservation and utilization strategies at the community,
national, regional and international levels are most effective
when they are complementary, and as appropriate, integrated
with each other during planning and implementation in order
to achieve maximum effect. Conservation
and use of PGRFA requires a mix of interrelated approaches,
including in situ and ex situ efforts. Structure
and organization of the Global Plan of Action 11.
The Global Plan of Action has 20 priority activity areas.
For
pragmatic and presentational purposes, these are organized
into four main groups. The
first group deals with In Situ Conservation and Development;
the second with Ex Situ Conservation; the third with Utilization
of Plant Genetic Resources; and the fourth with Institutions
and Capacity Building. As
the Global Plan of Action is a set of integrated and intertwining
activities, the placement of the activities into four groups
is intended simply to help order the presentation and guide
the reader to areas of particular interest. Many
activities will relate and be relevant to more than one group.
12.
For each priority activity there is a basic set of headings
or sections to aid in the presentation of the proposed priority
activity. In
some cases, recommendations found under one heading might
as appropriately have been placed under another. While
no strict section definitions are considered necessary, a
few explanatory remarks might be useful: (a) The Assessment
section provides a summary of the rationale for the priority
activity. It
draws upon the findings of the preparatory process, and especially
the Report on the State of the World's Plant Genetic Resources.
(b)
The Longterm Objectives and Intermediate Objectives sections
specify the ultimate and intervening objectives respectively
to be accomplished by the priority activity. The
explicit articulation of goals can aid the international community
in judging the extent of implementation of the activity over
time. (c)
The Policy/Strategy section proposes national and international
policies and strategic approaches to implement the objectives
of the priority activity. In
some cases there are recommendations for new international
policies; in other cases there are proposals for changes in
approach, priorities, and visions. (d)
The Capacity section indicates what human and institutional
capabilities should be developed or provided. (e)
The Research/Technology section, including technology development
and transfer, identifies areas of scientific, methodological,
or technological research or action relevant to the implementation
of the priority activity. (f)
The Coordination and Administration section addresses how
these issues might be approached as the priority activity
is planned and implemented. (g)
The Section entitled This Activity is Closely Linked With
lists other activities in the Global Plan of Action that are
strongly associated with this one. The
Global Plan of Action was designed as an integrated plan.
Its
successful implementation will depend on the complementarity
of the activities. The
success of any individual priority activity may therefore
depend on implementation of another priority activity. For
example, the "Sustaining Existing Ex Situ Collections'' (Activity
5) is highly dependent on actions 15 Global Plan of Action
arising from "Creating Comprehensive Information Systems for
Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture'' (Activity
17). Because
of this interdependence, not all actions needed to secure
existing ex situ collections can be listed under the priority
activity of that name. Where
interdependencies are particularly crucial, they are listed
in this section. 13.
On occasion, institutions or constituencies are specifically
identified in the body of an Activity. This
is not meant to imply their exclusion in other Activities.
Such
references are used to highlight a role which is particularly
critical, or one which may otherwise be overlooked, or both. |
