Twentieth Regular Session starts today

Rome – The Twentieth Regular Session of the Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, which is taking place from 24 to 28 March in Rome, will see the launch of two publications in the Commission’s series of global assessments of biodiversity of importance to agrifood systems.

The Third Report on the State of the World’s Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, to be launched on Monday, and The Second Report on the State of the World’s Forest Genetic Resources, to be launched on Wednesday, provide overviews of the status of the respective components of biodiversity and their management worldwide.
Both reports indicate that while progress has been made over recent years in terms of strengthening various aspects of conservation and use, trends in the status of genetic diversity remain concerning and many threats to diversity remain prevalent.

In the case of plant genetic resources, 42 percent of all taxa surveyed, including many wild food plants and wild relatives of domesticated crops, were found no longer to be present in at least one of the areas where they were previously cultivated or occurred naturally. 

Where forest genetic resources are concerned, many tree species remain under threat of extinction or are losing their genetic diversity. Key threats include deforestation, forest degradation, fires, pests, diseases and invasive species.
In his forewords to the respective reports, FAO Director-General, QU Dongyu, stresses the vital importance of genetic resources to the future of agrifood systems to sustainable development, noting that “strengthening the conservation and sustainable use of plant genetic resources is not just an agricultural priority – it is a fundamental necessity for ensuring a more sustainable, resilient and food-secure future for all” and that “investing in forest genetic resources and managing them sustainably will enable the adaption of the world’s forests to climate change while also increasing productivity and developing new products; it will help safeguard human well-being and maintain forest health.”

Over the course of the five-day meeting, the Commission – the only intergovernmental body that deals with all matters specifically related to biodiversity for food and agriculture – will discuss action to promote the conservation and sustainable use of plant, animal, forest, aquatic, microorganism and invertebrate genetic resources as well as the integrated management of all components of biodiversity of relevance to food and agriculture. It will review the implementation of its various sectoral global plans of action and its overarching Framework for Action on Biodiversity for Food and Agriculture. It will also consider a number of cross-cutting issues, including the role of genetic resources in the mitigation of and adaptation to climate change, access to genetic resources and the sharing of benefits arising from their use, and the significance of “digital sequence information” on genetic resources.

Find out more about what is going on here