Out of a worldwide pool of about 6000 breeds of mammals and poultry, an estimated one to two breeds are lost every week and many others remain at risk. Also alarming is the unexplored potential for utilization of many other breeds. Some of the breeds at risk have unique characteristics that allow them to survive and produce in harsh environments, where modern industrial breeds cannot thrive.

This meeting is only one step in a long process formally called "The Global Strategy for the Management of Farm Animal Genetic Resources". The meeting will provide an opportunity for political decisions to be made that will shape the future of the world's animal genetic resources and will allow countries, in partnership with international organizations such as FAO, to start taking action aimed at conserving and economically exploiting their animal genetic resources. Examples of such actions are the establishment of programmes to train human resources in animal breeding and genetics, the creation of gene banks (where different tissues from animals can be conserved for future use), and the establishment of field breeding programmes (aimed at genetic improvement on the animals).