Crop Wild Relative Conservation and Use

Crop wild relatives (CWR) are species closely related to crop plants which can contribute beneficial traits, such as pest or disease resistance and yield improvement. These species are critical for improving agricultural production and increasing food security. They are also essential components of natural and semi-natural habitats as well as agricultural systems, and are therefore vital in maintaining ecosystem health. However, CWR, like any other group of wild species, are subject to an increasing range of threats: habitat loss, degradation and mismanagement, over-collection and climate change. Through an examination of the national, regional and global context of CWR, these authoritative studies present methodologies and case studies that review and provide recommendations for global conservation and use. Topics range from the establishment of conservation priorities and strategies, threat assessment and genetic erosion and pollution.

Table of Contents:
Part I: Crop Wild Relative Conservation and Use: an Overview 1: Crop Wild Relative Conservation and Use: Establishing the Context 2: Addressing the Conservation and Sustainable Utilization of Crop Wild Relatives: the International Policy Context 3: Crop Wild Relatives: Putting Information in a European Policy Context 4: Crop Wild Relatives in Armenia: Diversity, Legislation and Conservation Issues Part II: Establishing Inventories and Conservation Priorities 5: Crops and Wild Relatives of the Euro-Mediterranean Region: Making and Using a Conservation Catalogue 6: Establishing Conservation Priorities for Crop Wild Relatives 7: Creation of a National Crop Wild Relative Strategy: a Case Study for the United Kingdom 8: National Crop Wild Relative In Situ Conservation Strategy for Russia 9: Diversity and Conservation Needs of Crop Wild Relatives in Finland 10: Crop Wild Relatives in the Netherlands: Actors and Protection Measures 11: European Forest Genetic Resources: Status of Current Knowledge and Conservation Priorities 12: Using GIS Models to Locate Potential Sites for Wheat Wild Relative Conservation in the Palestinian Authority Areas Part III: Threat and Conservation Assessment 13: IUCN Red Listing of Crop Wild Relatives: is a National Approach as Difficult as Some Think? 14: Traditional Farming Systems in South-eastern Turkey: the Imperative of In Situ Conservation of Endangered Wild Annual Cicer Species 15: Ecogeographical Representativeness in Crop Wild Relative Ex Situ Collections Part IV: Genetic Erosion and Genetic Pollution 16: Genetic Erosion and Genetic Pollution of Crop Wild Relatives: the PGR Forum Perspective and Achievements 17: Assessing the Potential for Ecological Harm from Gene Flow to Crop Wild Relatives 18: Reciprocal Introgression between Wild and Cultivated Peach Palm (Bactris gasipaes Kunth, Arecaceae) in Western Ecuador 19: Impoverishment of the Gene Pool of the Genus Aegilops L. in Armenia Part V: In Situ Conservation 20: Crop Wild Relative In Situ Management and Monitoring: the Time Has Come 21: Does Agriculture Conflict with In Situ Conservation? A Case Study on the Use of Wild Relatives by Yam Farmers in Benin 22: Management Plans for Promoting In Situ Conservation of Local Agrobiodiversity in the West Asia Centre of Plant Diversity 23: In Situ Conservation Strategy for Wild Lima Bean (Phaseolus lunatus L.) Populations in the Central Valley of Costa Rica: a Case Study of Short-lived Perennial Plants with a Mixed Mating System 24: Population Performance of Arnica montana L. in Different Habitats 25: A Designated Nature Reserve for In Situ Conservation of Wild Emmer Wheat (Triticum dicoccoides (Körn.) Aaronsohn) in Northern Israel 26: Integrating Wild Plants and Landrace Conservation in Farming Systems: a Perspective from Italy Part VI: Ex Situ Conservation 27: Ex Situ Conservation of Wild Species: Services Provided by Botanic Gardens 28: Conservation of Spanish Wild Oats: Avena canariensis, A. prostrata and A. murphyi 29: Analysis of Wild Lactuca Gene Bank Accessions and Implications for Wild Species Conservation 30: The Role of Botanic Gardens in the Conservation of Crop Wild Relatives 31: A National Italian Network to Improve Seed Conservation of Wild Native Species (‘RIBES’) 32: Linking In Situ and Ex Situ Conservation with Use of Crop Wild Relatives Part VII: Information Management 33: CWRIS: an Information Management System to Aid Crop Wild Relative Conservation and Sustainable Use 34: Crop Wild Relatives in the ECPGR Central Crop Databases: a Case Study in Beta L. and Avena L. 35: Crop Wild Relative Information: Developing a Tool for its Management and Use 36: Managing Passport Data Associated with Seed Collections from Wild Populations: Increasing Potential for Conservation and Use of Crop Wild Relatives in Israel 37: Some Thoughts on Sources of News about Crop Wild Relatives Part VIII: Gene Donors for Crop Improvement 38: Using Crop Wild Relatives for Crop Improvement: Trends and Perspectives 39: The Secondary Gene Pool of Barley as Gene Donors for Crop Improvement 40: Exploitation of Wild Cereals for Wheat Improvement in the Institute for Cereal Crops Improvement 41: Using Crop Wild Relatives as Sources of Useful Genes 42: Genetic Systems and the Conservation of Wild Relatives of Crops Part IX: Use of Crop Wild Relatives and Underutilized Species 43: The Use and Economic Potential of Wild Species: an Overview 44: Minor Crops and Underutilized Species: Lessons and Prospects 45: Conservation and Use of Wild-harvested Medicinal Plants in Sri Lanka 46: Use of Wild Plant Species: the Market Perspective 47: Linking Conservation with Sustainable Use: Quercus ilex subsp. rotundifolia (Lam) O. Schwarz in Traditional Agro-sylvo-pastoral Systems in Southern Portugal Part X: Global Issues in Crop Wild Relative Conservation and Use 48: The Crop Wild Relative Specialist Group of the IUCN Species Survival Commission 49: Towards a Global Strategy for the Conservation and Use of Crop Wild Relatives

About the Author :
Professor and Consultant in Plant Genetic Conservation. Research Interests: Plant conservation and broader biodiversity conservation and use, with specific expertise in: field conservation, taxonomy, ecogeography, GIS, population sampling, population management, reserve management, on-farm conservation, gene flow and genetic diversity studies of various plant groups. Work experience throughout Africa, the Middle East, Caucasus, Central Asia and Europe. Shelagh Kell has been working internationally in the field of plant genetic resources conservation and sustainable use for more than 20 years. She is currently Project Manager and Research Fellow at the School of Biosciences, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham (UoB), UK; Editor-in-Chief, Plant Genetic Resources: Characterization and Utilization, published by Cambridge University Press (CUP) on behalf of the National Institute of Agricultural Botany (NIAB), UK; and Chair of the Genetic Resources section of the European Association for Research on Plant Breeding (EUCARPIA). She has undertaken previous consultancies for the Secretariat of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA); Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO); Bioversity International; United Nations Development Programme (UNDP); and International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). She has worked both within and outside Europe, including missions to China, the Indian Ocean, the Fertile Crescent, Mesoamerica and South America. She has also been an Author, Tutor, Research Supervisor and Examiner for the University of London External Programme since 2001. She is co-editor of two published volumes, lead and co-author of a range of peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters and other publications, and is founder and co-editor of the newsletter, Crop wild relative. José María Iriondo Alegría is a full professor of the Biodiversity and Conservation Area of Rey Juan Carlos University (URJC) in Madrid (Spain). He holds a degree in Agricultural Engineering specialized in plant sciences, a specialist degree in Plant Genetic Resources and a PhD from the Plant Genetic Resources Conservation Program of the Technical University of Madrid (UPM). His research and training are specialized in in situ conservation of crop wild relatives (CWR) and wild food plants (WFP), threatened plants, and alpine plants affected by climate change. In 1999, he joined the working group on Crop Wild Relative Conservation of ECPGR (European Cooperative Programme for Plant Genetic Resources) and have since worked on CWR in Europe developing criteria, methodologies and standards for the conservation and management of these PGR, through active participation in four European research projects (PGR Forum, AEGRO, PGR Secure y Farmer's Pride). Presently, he is vice-chair of the CWR working group of ECPGR and a member of the Advisory Committee of EURISCO, the European database of plant genetic resources. His research is specialized in in situ plant conservation with a focus on population dynamics, reproductive biology, population genetics, biotic interactions and local adaptations in the context of climate change. Dr Dulloo is a Team Leader for a Bioversity International Initiative on Effective Genetic Resources Conservation and Use. Dr Dulloo is also co-Leader of the Genetic Diversity Cluster in the CGIAR Research Program on Roots, Tubers and Bananas, as well as co-Chair of the Crop Wild Relative Specialist Group. He has been a Senior Policy Officer at the FAO. He was the lead author of the 2005 Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Report and, more recently, lead author of Chapter 2.2 Status and Trends - Nature in the IPBES Global Assessment on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services Report. He won the World Bank 2009 Development Marketplace Award on Climate Adaptation. Dr Dulloo has published widely on biodiversity and the conservation of genetic resources.