When the international community first began to talk seriously about genetic resources in the 1960s and 1970s, it was taken as self-evident that the world should share its genetic resources freely as the common heritage of humanity.
When it comes to plant genetic resources, the peoples of the world are utterly interdependent; a true globalism is part of the heritage of modern crops and the economies based on them. International commitment to saving crop diversity: This spirit underpinned the first discussions in FAO on genetic resources in the 1960s and persisted through the 1980s.
Its basic tenets were modified only by a broad recognition of plant breeders' rights: the payment of royalties to those who develop clearly identifiable, new varieties that others want to grow. By the late 1980s, the concept of farmers' rights, defined as the "rights arising from the past, present and future contributions of farmers in conserving, improving, and making available plant genetic resources, particularly those in the centres of origin/diversity," began to gain support.
But in the 1990s this basic vision began to shift as greater recognition of the value of agricultural biodiversity led to growing concerns about ownership and benefit sharing.
A number of international instruments governing the conservation and use of biodiversity have been adopted over the past decade: all of them reflect this shift in vision. And while these conventions, treaties and agreement - the most critical of which are described below - have been hotly negotiated in political fora and themselves give rise to significant policy issues, they have also provided a policy framework for global programmes and plans related to agricultural biodiversity.
Conventions, treaties and agreements
Convention on Biological Diversity:
The Convention on Biological Diversity was one of the key agreements reached buy world leaders at the 1992 Earth Summit at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Over 150 governments signed the legally binding treaty at the Rio conference, and since then more than 175 countries have ratified the agreement. The Convention has three main goals: the conservation of biological diversity, the sustainable use of its components, and the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising from the use of biological resources.
The Convention acknowledges that conservation is a common concern for all humanity, and it links conservation efforts to the goal of the sustainable use of biodiversity for the benefit of human beings. It obliges countries to facilitate access to biological resources within their own borders. But the Convention also acknowledges that countries have a right to regard biological resources and the genes they contain as a national resource over which they have sovereignty.
It sets out principles for the fair sharing of benefits arising from the use of biological resources, particularly in commercial applications. Those who seek access to biological resources must gain prior informed consent, on terms that are mutually agreed.
The Convention acknowledges that substantial investments are required to accomplish its goals.
INTERNATIONAL TREATY ON PLANT
GENETIC RESOURCES:
The International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture was adopted by the member states of FAO on 3 November 2001. The International Treaty represents a significant effort to open up access to crop diversity and to ensure that benefits are shared equitably. By agreeing to share their resources through the creation of a multilateral exchange system, governments created a new structure for the common good of humanity.
The Treaty, which is in harmony with the Convention on Biological Diversity, will enter into force once it has been ratified by 40 countries, a process that is expected to take up to two years.
It envisages a multilateral system to facilitate access to key crop resources with minimal procedural and administrative costs. Initially the system applies to 35 food crops and some 80 forages. The listed species cover most of the crops that are important for world food security and that are maintained in the Future Harvest Centres; exceptions include Glycine (soybean) , Arachis (peanut) and some tropical forages. The Treaty invites all holders of plant genetic resources on the list to join the multilateral system. The list itself can be changed with the consensus of the parties to the Treaty.
The Treaty envisages a mechanism for sharing benefits whereby the 'owners' of a commercialised product that incorporates material obtained from the multilateral system will pay a royalty into a specially designated fund. The payment is mandatory if the product is not available for further research and breeding as a result of the application of intellectual property rights. It is voluntary when the product can be freely used for breeding and research. The Treaty clearly envisages that benefits will flow primarily to farmers in developing countries.
FAO-CGIAR IN-TRUST AGREEMENTS:
In 1994, the Future Harvest Centres of the CGIAR signed agreements with FAO, placing the collections in their genebanks under the auspices of FAO for the benefit of all humanity. The agreements recognise the Centres as trustees for the collections under their care. In signing the agreements, the CGIAR accepted the long-term responsibility to see that the invaluable and irreplaceable material in the collections is safely conserved to international technical standards, well documented and readily accessible.
Under the terms of the 1994 agreements, the Future Harvest Centres are not permitted to claim ownership, or seek intellectual property rights over the in-trust material and related information. They must pass the same obligations on to any recipient of material from the collections by means of a standard material transfer agreement approved by the FAO.
These agreements accompany samples sent out by the Centres and establish conditions for their use. All further recipients of in-trust materials are bound by the same terms.
The International Treaty invites the Centres to enter into new in-trust agreements with the Treaty's Governing Body. It is envisaged that these agreements, unlike the previous agreements, would operate in perpetuity. New material transfer agreements will also need to be drafted and agreed. The Treaty calls for a strategy to mobilise funding for priority activities, plans and Programmes - including those described in the Global Plan of Action.
GLOBAL PROGRAMMES AND PLANS
THE GLOBAL PLAN OF ACTION:
While these conventions and treaties identified the need for plant genetic resource conservation, nations required a practical plan of action. To develop such a plan, FAO organised a technical conference held in Leipzig. Germany in 1996.
In preparation for the conference, 158 governments compiled country reports, assessing the status of their plant genetic resources, and their capacity to conserved and use them. FAO's first Report on the State of the World's Plant Genetic Resources was largely based on this information. The Report analysed the status of the conservation and use of plant genetic resources around the world and described activities and programmes carried out by regional, international and non-governmental organisations.
It identified gaps, constraints and emergency situations. The Report warned of a large-scale loss of plant genetic resources of importance to food and agriculture, citing the spread of modern, commercial agriculture and the introduction of new varieties as the main causes of the loss of genetic diversity.
The State of the World Report provided the basis for the Global Plan of Action. The FAO Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture guided the development of the Global Plan, through a country-driven preparatory process that included twelve regional and sub-regional meetings at which governments discussed problems and opportunities and made recommendations for the Global Plan. This process itself helped to strengthen existing national crop diversity research programmes and regional networks and promoted scientific co-operation.
The Global Plan comprises twenty priority activities, covering in situ and ex situ conservation, plant genetic resources use and institution and capacity building.
FOUR OF THE TWENTY ACTIVITIES RELATE SPECIFICALLY TO EX SITU CONSERVATION:
-- Activity 5. Sustaining Existing Ex Situ Collections
-- Activity 6. Regenerating Threatened Ex Situ Accessions
-- Activity 7. Supporting Planned and Targeted Collecting of Plant Genetic Resources
-- Activity 8. Expanding Ex Situ Conservation Activities
One hundred and fifty countries formally adopted the Global Plan of Action at the Leipzig Conference. In so doing, governments also adopted the Leipzig Declaration, through which they committed themselves to implementing the Global Plan. The FAO Commission monitors this implementation, and is committed to periodic updating of the Global Plan.
The Global Plan of Actin for the conservation and Sustainable Use of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (FAO, 1996) is retrievable from http://www.fao.org/WAICENT/FAOINFO/AGRICULT/AGP/AGPS/pgrfa/gpaeng.htm
FURTHER INITIATIVES:
The governing body of the convention on Biological Diversity (known as the Conference of the Parties) has established a work programme specifically concerned with the maintenance and use of agricultural biodiversity.
The work programme seeks to provide a comprehensive analysis of the status and trends of the world's agricultural biodiversity, as well as the status and trends of local knowledge concerning the management of that diversity. It works to identify and promote management practices, technologies, and policies that promote the positive and mitigate the negative impacts of agriculture on biodiversity
A key objective is to strengthen the capacity of farmers and indigenous and local communities to sustainably manage agricultural biodiversity so as to increase their benefits and promote awareness and responsible action.
The Global Strategy for Plant Conservation, adopted by the 6th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in April 2002, is the first to explicitly recognise the importance of conserving the diversity of plant life on Earth in all its forms, independently of use-oriented considerations like forestry or agriculture. The Strategy sets global targets to be met by the year 2010 - a risk not often taken in international fora and a first for the Convention.
THE TARGETS OF THE GLOBAL STRATEGY RELEVANT TO EX SITU CONSERVATION ARE:
UNDERSTANDING AND DOCUMENTING PLANT DIVERSITY
1. A preliminary assessment of the conservation status of all known plant species, at national, regional and international levels.
2. Development of models with protocols for plant conservation and sustainable use, based on research and practical experience.
Conserving plant diversity
1. 60 percent of threatened plant species, in accessible ex situ collections, preferably in their country of origin, and 10 percent of them included in recovery and restoration programmes.
2. 70 percent of the genetic diversity of crops and other major socio-economically valuable plant species conserved, and associated local and indigenous knowledge maintained.
PROMOTING EDUCATION AND AWARENESS ABOUT PLANT DIVERSITY:
1. The importance of plant diversity and the need for its conservation incorporated into communication, education and public awareness programmes.
BUILDING CAPACITY FOR THE CONSERVATION OF PLANT DIVERSITY:
1. The number of trained people working with appropriate facilities in plant conservation increased, according to national needs, to achieve the targets of this strategy.
2. Networks for plant conservation activities established or strengthened at national, regional and international levels.
Not all countries waited for the Global Strategy to be adopted before starting work. Planta Europa, backed by the Council of Europe, has already agreed to a Plant Conservation Strategy for Europe along the lines of the Global Strategy. Colombia has also adopted a national strategy in anticipation of the Global Strategy. Ethiopia proposed that a regional strategy for Africa should be developed, following the example of Europe.
The world's crop genebanks maintain the seeds for future harvests, even as crop diversity disappears from farmers' fields and nature. As the climate changes, as the human population increases and development proceeds apace, the need for crop diversity collections is greater than ever.
These collections conserve crop varieties and genes that farmers and scientists require if they are to continue to produce seeds that provide food and countless other resources for present and future generations. They conserve both the major staple crops upon which humanity depends and minor crops that ensure the health and livelihoods of millions of farming communities around the world. Genebanks provide the best opportunity for reintroducing diversity of crops and varieties that were presumed lost; their vast collections undoubtedly contain many as yet unrecognised treasures.
TOMORROW'S GENEBANKS:
In the early 1970s, the world's genebanks held perhaps half a million samples. Since then, genebanks and their collections have mushroomed, with each year seeing an average expansion of some 200,000 samples. Many of the hundreds of new collections established in the last three decades were understandably assembled in an atmosphere of crisis, and the imprint of that legacy remains. As a result, today there is a wide spectrum of genebank capacity.
At one end of the spectrum, crop genebanks use their well-managed collections, technical expertise and deep knowledge base to act as partners in crop improvement and in the conservation of agricultural diversity in farmers' fields and in the wild. At the other end of the spectrum some genebanks are over-whelmed by the job of managing the material in their care and are unable, often through lack of funding, to carry out basic conservation functions.
Despite the agreements forged through international conventions and the guidance provided by the Global Plan of Action, the disparities between genebanks are large. Behind these disparities are two main factors: the lack of a clearly articulated vision for a global genebank system and access to the resources necessary to make that vision a reality.
THE VISION SHOULD NOT BE DIFFICULT TO ARTICULATE: it includes both management standards and optimal goals. The minimum standards should ideally be met by all genebanks, because they assure the viability and usefulness of a collection.
Issues around which minimum standards need to be set include the procedures for entering new material into a collection; the establishment of appropriate regeneration regimes that are fundamental to maintaining the viability and genetic integrity of genebank samples; accurate and timely monitoring of the viability of samples; and the characterisation, documentation and supply of healthy, viable samples to users.
Optimal goals for genebank operations go well beyond the technical responsibilities of collecting, maintaining, regenerating and distributing seed. They go to the core purpose of crop diversity collections: to conserve unique and potentially valuable diversity of key crops.
Beyond knowing what is in the collection, genebanks should be proactive participants in the planning of agricultural production systems in terms of what kinds of crops and varieties to use. They should be centres of information of genetic resources in a given country.
Genebanks should be able to provide relevant information to every potential user: what the varieties have to offer in terms of development; what they have to offer in terms of contributing to a more sustainable environment; and the full range of indigenous knowledge associated with a species, including its uses. On all of these topics, genebanks should make information available to policy makers and the general public. A well functioning genebank should operate within the framework of relevant international treaties. Finally, genebanks should link conservation with development and agriculture with the environment.
FUNDING IN PERPETUITY: From the perspective of a genebank that lacks money to run its cooling system, these goals may indeed seem remote. Limited resources can present nearly insurmountable obstacles. Therefore, it is time to think about how to mobilise global resources to meet a global challenge.
New and imaginative means of support must be found. Until now, genebank funding has largely been dependent on annual disbursements from national budgets, which can vary from year to year. However the need to keep crop diversity collections safe exists in perpetuity. To let it lapse even one year may mean the sacrifice of irreplaceable crop genetic resources. Therefore, funding must be stable and forever.
Several recent international treaties and global plans address these concerns and suggest directions to pursue.
-- The International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources calls for a funding strategy to mobilise resources for priority conservation activities, including for maintaining and expanding the role of crop genebanks.
-- The Global Plan of Action envisions a more rational global genebank system, in which costly and excessive duplication is eliminated, while crucial collections, each with a single duplicate set, are fully secured at separate locations. The Global Plan assumes a high level of international and national collaboration.
-- The in-trust agreements between the Food and Agriculture Organisation and the Future Harvest Centres, place the collections managed by the Centres under the auspices of FAO to be conserved and used for the benefit of all humanity. These agreement envision an on-going responsibility-yet no stable funding mechanism has been established.
These mandates from the world community have not yet been fully implemented, although countries and organisations have made initial efforts in good faith. The resources are lacking to allow their full realisation. The task now is to procure the resources necessary to ensure that genebanks worldwide can meet their conservation functions and offer the full range of expertise and insight that accompanies their mission. To garner these resources, the world community must look beyond the annual budgets of individual countries or donor organisations. Resources can be pooled into one global fund-an endowment for the future of agricultural diversity and a foundation for food security.
A PERMANENT ENDOWMENT?
A substantial endowment would match the perpetual need for crop diversity conservation with a perpetual source of support for the world's national and international plant genetic resources collections. It could support the maintenance needs of the world's most critical collections and help to build the capacity of under-funded collections.
An endowment could help realise the ideals of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources by taking as its starting point conservation of the 35 priority food crops and 80 forages listed under the Treaty. Over time, it could grow in size and scope to encompass additional genebank collections and crops.
The conservations of crop diversity collections is a responsibility that transcends borders, regimes, and world orders. The issue is on the table.
(Concluded)
- Courtesy Imperial College