Mainstreaming the Global Crop Conservation Strategies in Plant Treaty Processes

Mainstreaming the Global Crop Conservation Strategies in Plant Treaty Processes

Since 2007, the Crop Trust has coordinated the development of 41 global crop conservation strategies (GCCS). The overall aim of these strategies is two-fold: (a) to identify priority collections and actions to strengthen the conservation of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (PGRFA), and (b) to ensure that conservation activities and priorities are better coordinated among stakeholders (including genebanks and their users) worldwide.

As part of the “Breathing new life into the Global Crop Conservation Strategies” project conducted between 2019 and 2023, the Crop Trust facilitated the development of 15 GCCS. These are publicly available and have been shared with crop experts and genebank curators.

However, there is limited awareness about the GCCS among the stakeholders of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. Also, there have not been channels to facilitate the flow of information in the GCCS into the Plant Treaty decision-making processes.

To address these limitations The Crop Trust is currently leading a three-year project on “Mainstreaming the Global Crop Conservation Strategies in Plant Treaty Processes.” The project is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) in close collaboration with the Secretariat of the Plant Treaty. By mainstreaming GCCS in Plant Treaty processes, this project will strengthen both the work of the Plant Treaty and the implementation of the GCCS.

Project activities include: identifying key entry points for the GCCS with regards to the Plant Treaty’s main areas; disseminating information about GCCS in relevant Plant Treaty fora; identifying key collections relevant to the GCCS that have yet to be fully notified to the Plant Treaty as available in the MLS, contact their holders, and support their notification.

The white paper “Mainstreaming Global Crop Conservation Strategies in Plant Treaty Processes” is an output of this project and was published as an information document for the 10th session of the Governing Body of the Plant Treaty (GB10). The white paper includes recommendations regarding a practical arrangement for the leadership of GCCS processes and implementation of their recommendations. These recommendations were discussed at GB10 and the conclusions are found in Resolution 12/2023 Policy Guidance to the Global Crop Diversity Trust. Also, mention of the GCCS was added to the terms of reference for the Ad Hoc Technical Committee on Conservation Sustainable Use (ACSU) of the Plant Treaty.

In 2023 an analysis of key entry points for the GCCS with regard to the Plant Treaty areas of work was completed and presented at the GB10 side event “Strengthening information-based decision-making in PGRFA management: relevance of Global Crop Conservation Strategies and the Plants that Feed the World projects to the International Treaty.”

As part of the activity disseminating information about GCCS in relevant Plant Treaty fora summaries of the GCCS tailored to Plant Treaty stakeholders have been produced.

Summaries of crop conservation strategies for Plant Treaty stakeholders

Short summaries and key metrics of the Global Crop Conservation strategies tailored to Plant Treaty stakeholders