IPGRI, in consultation with a
wide range of partners and
stakeholders, has developed a
new strategy to guide its
efforts over the coming years.
The new strategy puts people
firmly at the centre of IPGRI’s
agenda.
Vision
People today and in the future
enjoy greater well-being
through increased incomes,
sustainably improved food
security and nutrition, and
greater environmental health,
made possible by
conservation and the
deployment of agricultural
biodiversity on farms and in
forests.
Our vision encapsulates
IPGRI’s strategic aspiration: to
ensure that agricultural
biodiversity is given the
prominence it deserves as a
contributing factor that can
improve peoples’ quality of
life. We can do that by
undertaking activities
expressed in our mission.
Mission
IPGRI undertakes, encourages
and supports research and
other activities on the use and
conservation of agricultural
biodiversity, especially genetic
resources, to create more
productive, resilient and
sustainable harvests. Our aim
is to promote the greater well-
being of people, particularly
poor people in developing
countries, by helping them to
achieve food security, to
improve their health and
nutrition, to boost their
incomes and to conserve the
natural resources on which
they depend. IPGRI works
with a global range of partners
to maximize impact, to
develop capacity and to
ensure that all stakeholders
have an effective voice.
In order to ensure that we
can organize, monitor and
evaluate our work, IPGRI has
adopted a logical hierarchy of
goals. At the top is the overall
goal, to ensure that the well-
being of people, particularly
poor people in developing
countries, is sustainably
improved. This is not
something we can do alone.
The global community has
adopted a set of Millennium
Development Goals in order to
measure progress towards
eradicating poverty. IPGRI’s
work is a contribution to the
achievement of the Millennium
Development Goals, especially
the goals related to hunger
and poverty eradication,
maternal health and child
mortality and environmental
sustainability.
Many organizations are
working towards the same
ends. IPGRI will make its
contribution by working with
partners and using its
expertise in the realm of
genetic resources and
agricultural biodiversity to
ensure that people and
institutions are enabled to use
and maintain agricultural
biodiversity optimally. This will
be achieved through six
coordinated and interrelated
areas of work:
• Demonstrating the social,
economic and
environmental benefits of
agricultural biodiversity;
• Ensuring that agricultural
biodiversity is conserved,
characterized and used to
improve productivity;
• Generating knowledge
about agricultural
biodiversity through
research and making such
knowledge available;
• Developing human and
institutional capacity to
make effective and
sustainable use of
agricultural biodiversity;
• Analyzing policies and
fostering an environment
that supports the use of
agricultural biodiversity;
• Raising awareness of the
values of agricultural
biodiversity and the
importance of the
conservation of genetic
resources.
By organizing our efforts
within this framework, we
ensure that the activities within
each area give rise to results
that can be used to improve the
part agricultural biodiversity
plays in allowing people to
achieve food security, to
improve their health and
nutrition, to boost their incomes
and to conserve the natural
resources on which they
depend. Details of the activities
in each objective can be found
in “Diversity for Well-being”, a
booklet introducing the
strategy, which is available by
post and from the IPGRI Web
site www.ipgri.cgiar.org/system/
page.asp?frame=Institute/New
Strategy.htm
ECP/GR 2-3
EUFORGEN 6-7
Training/ 
Capacity building 10-11
IPGRI news 12-15
Forthcoming meetings 16
Diversity for Well-being - IPGRI’s new strategy
International Plant Genetic Resources Institute
No 29 - December 2004
Inside this issue
The International Plant Genetic
Resources Institute (IPGRI) is
one of the 16 Centres of the
Consultative Group on
International Agricultural
Research (CGIAR). IPGRI’s goal
is to advance the conservation
and use of genetic diversity for
the well-being of present and
future generations. From its
headquarters in Rome and its
regional offices, IPGRI promotes
and coordinates the action
needed for the conservation of
these genetic resources.
IPGRI’s Regional Office for
Europe provides the
Coordination Secretariats for the
European Cooperative
Programme for Crop Genetic
Resources Networks (ECP/GR)
and for the European Forest
Genetic Resources Programme
(EUFORGEN).
IPGRI publishes two issues of
the Regional Newsletter for
Europe a year. This Newsletter is
intended to serve as an informal
forum for the exchange of news
and views, and to create closer
ties within the genetic resources
community in Europe. Previous
issues are available from the
IPGRI Web site.
A Russian version of this
Newsletter is being produced
and disseminated in collabora-
tion with the N.I. Vavilov
Research Institute of Plant
Industry (VIR) in St. Petersburg.
We invite you to send your ideas
and contributions for this
Newsletter to IPGRI’s Regional
Office for Europe. Please send
all contributions for Issue 30 by
15 March 2005.
About this Newsletter
newsletterfor Europe
2
IPGRI Newsletter For Europe
European Cooperative Programme for Crop
Helmut Knüpffer
IPK Gatersleben
Germany
Two meetings were held on 20
June 2004, in conjunction with
the 9th International Barley
Genetics Symposium (20-26
June, Brno, Czech Republic;
www.ibgs.cz).
A short ad hoc meeting of
the ECP/GR Barley Working
Group with ten participants
was organized by H. Knüpffer
(Germany). 
The Group approved the
budget of the Cereals
Network for ECP/GR Phase
VII (2004-2008) and finalized
its priorities in relation to four
priority areas:
• Characterization and
evaluation: complete,
document and study the
Barley Core Collection
(BCC) using molecular
markers; pre-breeding and
base-broadening; ring test
on net blotch; 
• Task sharing: duplicate
identification; safety-
duplication; 
• In situ and on-farm
conservation: coordinate
with the ECP/GR In situ
task force and the EU
project PGR Forum; and 
• Documentation and
information: develop
EBDB; international
cooperation and
networking. 
Topics of wider interest
were discussed in the
subsequent workshop.
The IBGS workshop on
Barley Genetic Resources,
with more than 50 participants
from 23 countries, was
organized by H. Knüpffer.
In session one, M. Jalli
(Finland) introduced pre-
breeding and base-broadening
as long-term activities that do
not attract much funding. A
group was formed (coordinated
by M. Jalli) to prepare a
strategy concept note to be
submitted to FAO for possible
funding. G. Backes (Denmark)
and D. Falk (Canada) presented
their activities.
Session two, on
Information Systems, was
opened by M. Mackay
(Australia) and J. Konopka
(ICARDA) with the Focused
Identification of Germplasm
Strategy (FIGS), which exploits
environmental information
from the collection sites. 
B. Laliberté (IPGRI) introduced
the Global Crop Diversity
Trust, aimed at safeguarding
the long-term preservation of
endangered unique ex situ
genetic resources collections,
especially in developing
countries. A group was formed
to assess the state of barley ex
situ collections worldwide.
Databases of the Nordic Gene
Bank were presented by L.
Bondo. Cooperation between
databases and information
systems aims at a “one-stop-
shop” for barley germplasm
worldwide. Two related papers
were presented at the IBGS:
“Gene banks and access to
barley genetic resources
information” (H. Knüpffer) and
“Global inventory of barley
genetic resources” 
(J. Valkoun and J. Konopka,
ICARDA).
In session three, K. Sato
(Japan) reported that the
International BCC is almost
complete. A subset of Genetic
Stocks was established
recently and work is underway
to create an Ethiopian/Eritrean
subset. 
Meetings on Barley Genetic Resources
Martin Pavelek, AGRITEC, Research, Breeding and Services, Ltd., Šumperk, Czech Republic
Thanks to the ECP/GR-funded project “Characterization of flax genetic resources in Europe and data
transfer to the IFDB” adopted during the ECP/GR ad hoc meeting on Flax genetic resources in Prague, 
7-8 December 2001, development of the IFDB progressed notably. From 2001 to 2004 characterization
data were received from the following European genebanks: Bulgaria, IPGR Sadovo (453 accessions);
Hungary, ABI Tápiószele (410); Romania, Suceava and Livada (247), and Ukraine, IBC Glukhiv (450).
Detailed characterization and evaluation work was carried out at IPGR Sadovo, Bulgaria by 
J. Angelov and R. Koeva. The flax accessions were evaluated for 16 morphological characters
according to the IFDB and showed substantial differences predominantly in the quantitative traits such
as natural plant height and height to first branch. The accessions were divided into 5 groups,  most of
which were characterized by medium high plants (67–82cm), typical of the intermediate type. This type
has a better proportion of fibre and seed yield, valuable for dual purpose breeding.
The accessions examined also differed in respect of corolla colour (when fully developed),
characterized with: blue (87%), white (6%) and light blue corolla (7%). Only one accession with a violet
corolla was detected. 
The accessions were divided into 5 groups according to the duration of the vegetation period (from
germination to technological maturity): very early; early; medium early; medium late and late. Most of
the accessions belonged to the medium early group.
The yielding abilities (fibre, fibre and oil, oil yield) were evaluated in the same way and divided into 
5 groups with the following general conclusions:
• The accessions examined were highly adaptable to the local climatic conditions;
• The oil content in the seeds ranged from 29.96% to 43.67%;
• The content of crude protein in the groats ranged from 33.06% to 41.04%;
• Thirty accessions with a good complex of characters were selected to continue the breeding
process (stem, seed, oil and protein yield) to be tested under production conditions and compared
with the standard cultivars.
Further development of the International Flax Database
ECP GR
European
Cooperative
Programme
for Crop
Genetic
Resources
Networks
Barley landraces. Ethiopia, 1992.
Photo: H. Knüpffer
3IPGRI Newsletter For Europe
Genetic Resources Networks http://www.ecpgr.cgiar.org
The fruits from the
regeneration and primary
characterization field for the
EU-funded “EGGNET” project
(GEN RES 13) offered an
incredible display of eggplant
of different shape, size and
colour to the participants of
the ECP/GR ad hoc
Solanaceae Working Group
meeting. This event, organized
jointly with the final meeting of
EGGNET, was held on 17-18
September 2004 at the Plant
Genetic Institute in Bari, Italy. 
Of all the ECP/GR
solanaceous databases, the
eggplant database, managed
by the Botanical and
Experimental Garden,
Radboud University,
Nijmegen, The Netherlands
was shown to be the most
advanced, thanks to
progress made during the
EGGNET project. It is
searchable on-line and
includes primary and
secondary characterization
data with pictures. Import
modules allow data
contributors to extract and
edit their own data directly.
More than 40 000
bibliographic references on
Solanaceae were also
collected and will soon be
linked from the ECP/GR
eggplant database. The
database was developed
using open source software
(mSQL), and other central
databases, in particular the
other solanaceous crop
databases, will be able to use
and adapt it to their needs.
During the meeting, plans
were made to transfer software
and knowledge from Nijmegen
and CGN Wageningen to the
manager of the ECP/GR
pepper database, hosted by
AARI, Izmir, Turkey. This
database is making progress
(6300 accessions), but is not
yet available on-line. Similarly,
the ECP/GR tomato database,
hosted by the Vavilov Institute
(VIR), St. Petersburg, Russian
Federation includes data
received from 15 countries, but
is not yet ready to be displayed
on Internet. The two small
Physalis and Cyphomandra
passport databases,
maintained by the University of
Valencia, Spain made good
progress and are already
available on-line.
Having experienced a
number of technical problems
in the receipt of passport data
from many different sources,
the VIR computer officer,
Andrew Omelchenko,
suggested establishing a
dedicated on-line forum for
exchange of information and
opinions. It is accessible at
www.vir.nw.ru/forum/ and
database managers are
welcome to join the discussion. 
The Solanaceae Working
Group is focusing its efforts on
raising the level of safety-
duplication of the European
Solanaceae collections.
Availability to host black
boxes in the various
genebanks was recorded. The
definition of standard
protocols for regeneration and
seed storage of the various
species was another objective
of this meeting. Information on
regeneration protocols used in
the various institutions was
shared and will be collated.
Discussions started on a
minimum list of about ten
priority characterization
descriptors to be used by any
ECP/GR participating country
for cultivated eggplants,
pepper, tomato, Cyphomandra
and Physalis. Agreed tables of
descriptors and regeneration
guidelines will be published in
the final IPGRI report of this
meeting. 
The ultimate objective of
these common minimum
characterization protocols is
to allow the future addition of
primary characterization data
to the solanaceous Central
Crop Databases.
EGGNET final meeting and ad hoc Solanaceae WG meeting
Eggplant diversity.  
Photo: G. Polignano, Italy
J. Mike Leggett, IGER, Plas Gogerddan, Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, UK
This ad hoc meeting of the Avena Working Group (AWG) was planned as a number of its members were
attending the VII International Oat Conference in Helsinki and the opportunity was too good to miss.
Issues discussed included the possibility of having areas of primary habitat of three rare oat species
(Avena maroccana, A. murphyi and A. insularis) in Morocco, Spain and Italy respectively preserved for in
situ conservation. The country representatives will pursue this with their respective government
agencies. The possibility of having these species and possibly another rare oat species A. prostrata
(indigenous in Spain and Morocco) included as red list species was also proposed. Further to this,
funds are available (through ECP/GR) to collect the former three species during 2005.
The new GEN RES Council Regulation 870/2004 (1467/94), though not published at the time of the
meeting, was discussed and various possibilities for a new project were proposed. A meeting of the
previous GEN RES project “Evaluation and enhancement of Avena landrace collections for
extensification of the genetic basis of Avena for quality and resistance breeding” was to be held the day
after the AWG meeting, attended by Fred Steenhoff from the EU Commission, who it was hoped, would
offer advice on how to best formulate a further proposal for submission by the AWG. 
As the present Chair of the AWG would be retiring in December 2004, the Group unanimously
elected Andreas Katsiotis of the Agricultural University of Athens (email: katsioti@aua.gr) interim AWG
Chair. It was also agreed that Andreas would be one of the two AWG members to sit on the ECP/GR
Cereals Network Coordinating Group (CNCG). The other Cereals NCG member remains the same,
EADB database manager Christoph Germeier. These appointments will need to be officially ratified at
the next full AWG / CNCG meeting which is currently scheduled for 2007. 
Finland hosts an ad hoc ECP/GR Avena Working Group meeting
Geert Kleijer
Agroscope RAC Changins
Nyon, Switzerland
Beate Schierscher 
& Franca Ciocco
CPC Domaine de Changins
Nyon, Switzerland
Boris Bachofen
Rétropomme
Peseux, Switzerland
Conservation of plant genetic
resources (PGR) in
Switzerland is carried out by
public and private
organizations. These
organizations received
political support following the
Swiss Government’s adoption
of the national plan of action
for the conservation and
sustainable use of PGR for
food and agriculture,
established after the
adoption of the
Global Plan of
Action in
Leipzig 1996.
One of the
outcomes was
the possibility
for the
Federal
Office for
Agriculture to
finance such PGR projects.
In order to ensure
coordinated conservation and
optimal use of financial
resources, the Swiss
Commission for the
Conservation of Cultivated
Plants (CPC), with the
support of its members and
working groups, has
elaborated conservation
concepts and guidelines for
several groups of species:
fruit trees; cereals, maize and
industrial plants; vegetables;
grapevine; potatoes; berries.
These are available in French
and German at the CPC Web
site (see below). Still under
development are the
concepts for forage crops
and aromatic and medicinal
plants. Each concept has an
identical structure, but the
contents are adapted
specifically to each group of
species.
Each concept defines four
phases:
• An inventory including
existing collections, field
investigations and
historical research;
• Choice of the varieties to
conserve;
• Conservation,
characterization and
evaluation of genetic
resources;
• Distribution of material for
sustainable use.
The activities are aimed at
conserving Switzerland’s rich
PGR diversity. Rare, foreign
varieties, curiosities or
seedlings (e.g. for fruit trees)
are conserved temporarily,
until a final decision, or a
case-by-case decision, can be
considered.
Three conservation levels
are foreseen: an introduction
collection (for transitory
maintenance of both
unrecognized and identified
accessions); a primary
collection (for the long-term
conservation of known
varieties); and a duplicated
collection (a supplementary
guarantee for the perennity of
the material). 
Guidelines and
specifications are elaborated
for the four phases of the
concepts, as well as technical
guidelines for regeneration of
the species, budgetary
guidelines and indicative
rates. 
These concepts and
guidelines are primarily a
performance tool to ensure
the conservation and
sustainability of Switzerland’s
genetic heritage; however,
they also offer a good
opportunity for collaboration
between public and private
institutions in carrying out
common projects. 
For more information please
visit www.cpc-skek.ch or
contact the CPC secretariat:
Email: info@cpc-skek.ch
4
IPGRI Newsletter For Europe
Concepts for the conservation of PGR in Switzerland
Agostino Falavigna, Istituto Sperimentale per l’Orticoltura,
Montanaso Lombardo (Lodi), Italy
Calabrian varieties of pepper “di Roggiano”, onion “Rossa di
Tropea” and melon “Rugoso di Cosenza” are only some of the
local products served and discussed at a recent national project
meeting on Italian vegetable germplasm, held in Mirto Crosia,
Cosenza (Italy). The meeting presented the results of the second
year of the three-year project, funded by the Italian Ministry for
University and Research (MiUR) and the Ministry for Agriculture
and Forest Policies (MiPAF). 
The project involves several partners from Agricultural
Experimental Institutes, universities, the National Research Centre
(CNR) and other institutions studying local vegetable varieties for:
agronomic performance; morphological, biochemical and
molecular genetics characterization; nutritional and nutraceutical
qualities; susceptibility to disease; breeding and conservative
selection. The aim is to supply the market with improved products,
while maintaining and stabilizing the local traits. 
Local varieties of asparagus, cauliflower, eggplant, garlic,
winter melon, onion, pepper, radicchio and table tomato were
identified throughout Italy. Nutritional qualities are emphasized by
biochemical analysis, e.g. protein content and quality of
“Purgatorio” bean grown for more than 400 years near the village
of Gradoli, and “Sarconi” bean recognized by the E.C. as a typical
product of the central Basilicata Region. Some local cauliflower
varieties with green or purple head showed high concentrations of
glucosinolate compounds, known for their nutraceutical
characteristics. Previously unknown traits of tolerance or
resistance to fusarium and verticillium wilts were identified in local
varieties of tomato. Asparagus “Violetto d’Albenga” and garlic “di
Vessalico” are being characterized for morphological traits. Overall,
the project has helped to emphasize the value of many local types
of Italian vegetables and ensure their conservation through use.
The third and final project meeting will be held in May/June
2005, as part of a national workshop on vegetable genetic
resources. International experts will also be invited to exchange
experiences and increase collaboration on a regional level.
Italian vegetable germplasm project
Zdenek Stehno
Genebank Department
Research Institute for Crop 
Production (RICP)
Prague
Czech Republic
The 9th International
Symposium on Buckwheat
was held on 18–22 August
2004 at the Agricultural
University in Prague, Czech
Republic, organized by the
Gene Bank department of the
Research Institute of Crop
Production Prague
(RICP),
under the
auspices
of the
International
Buckwheat
Research
Association (IBRA)
and the Ministry of
Agriculture of the
Czech Republic.
Keynote
presentations were
devoted to the:
development of the
IBRA; origin of
cultivated
buckwheat;
advances in
overcoming breeding
barriers in buckwheat;
and present state and
future prospects for
buckwheat.
The section on
“Biotechnology and
physiology” considered
buckwheat DNA analyses and
utilization of genes and
methods of tissue culture for
special purposes.
Physiological aspects of
stress conditions were
presented. Influence on
buckwheat development of
day length and northern
growing localities was also
described for Fagopyrum
esculentum and F. tataricum.
The “Genetics, genetic
resources and breeding”
section focused on buckwheat
genetic resources available in
different countries (e.g. China,
India, Russia, Ukraine and
others) and on conservation of
buckwheat diversity in general.
Inheritance of certain traits e.g.
homostyly, branching,
determinant flowering, rutin
content, seed protein
polymorphism, etc., was
presented. Research on new
breeding methods and
methods supporting selection
e.g. molecular markers,
micropropagation, interspecific
hybridization, polyploidization
and others was reported.
The “Cultivation and plant
nutrition” section described
cultivation techniques, with
frequent reference to the
impact of fertilizers and forms
of application. Disease
occurrence, phytopathological
monitoring and plant
pathogen relations were also
reviewed. 
A further section on “Food
processing, health and
functional food” discussed
flavonoids in general and rutin
in particular. Tests for possible
substitution of buckwheat for
wheat flour were presented
and aspects of buckwheat
allergy were mentioned. The
programme ended with a
section devoted to buckwheat
utilization in organic farming. 
Over 100 international
specialists took part in the
Symposium. The proceedings
were published and can be
requested from RICP (email:
stehno@vurv.cz).
5IPGRI Newsletter For Europe
9th International Symposium on Buckwheat
Genetic variation for plant breeding was the focus of the 17th General Congress of EUCARPIA
(European Association for Research on Plant Breeding), held on 8-11 September in Tulln, Austria, with
over 350 participants from nearly 50 countries.
During the first session on “Current availability and use of genetic diversity”, various presentations
consistently reported that genetic diversity contained in cultivated germplasm has not decreased over
time in quantitative terms, and in some cases it has actually increased. However, the type of alleles was
subject to changes, especially the rare alleles, which might have implications on the choice of the most
appropriate sampling strategies over time.  
During the second session on “Strategies for exploitation of genetic diversity”, examples were given
of the use of functional markers in maize and ryegrass, as well as the possibility to use molecular
methods to aid introgression from wild species. Perspectives for the future include the possibility to use
software helping to design and select the ideal genotype, once the full spectrum of agronomically
relevant alleles has been haplotyped. The importance of correct characterization of individual plants
(phenotyping) emerged as an important step that will continue to accompany the use of computer
software and molecular methods in the foreseeable future.
In the third session on “Old and new goals in plant breeding”, successful cases of breeding were
presented e.g. yield improvement in British wheat varieties, aided by QTL analysis; the exploitation of
the Commonwealth potato collection as a source of resistance genes; and improvements in hybrid rye
performance in Germany. 
Mapping and pyramiding of resistance genes in barley and accumulation of genotypic and
phenotypic data were shown to offer a promising platform for breeders to use barley diversity.
Resistance genes are being introduced into Beta. Among future breeding directions, the importance of
breeding old and new species for a sustainable biosaline agriculture was shown. Additionally, it was
indicated that organic farming will make more progress with the use of varieties to be bred specifically
for this purpose within an organically managed environment and with farmers’ participation. 
A possible take-home message of the Congress was that proliferation of molecular markers and
refinement of marker-assisted selection techniques will increasingly accelerate the breeding progress.
However, these would remain ineffective in the absence of useful genes, which can only be found in well
maintained and available sources of genetically diverse germplasm.
XVII EUCARPIA General Congress
v
The Swiss Federal Institute of
Technology organized the
ninth meeting of the
EUFORGEN Populus nigra
Network in Warth, Switzerland
on 16-18 September 2004.
Representatives from 20
countries reviewed the
progress made and
exchanged ideas on the future
activities on poplars during
EUFORGEN Phase III (2005-
2009). Following the
EUFORGEN Steering
Committee decision in May
2004, the work of the current
four Networks on broadleaved
tree species will be
reorganized into two new
Networks starting from
January 2005. The Populus
nigra and the Noble
Hardwoods Networks will
continue their efforts as a new
joint Network focusing on
broadleaves with scattered
distribution (See NL28 for
more details on Phase III).
One of the ongoing tasks
of the Populus nigra Network
is the development of a
common action plan for black
poplar in Europe, aimed at
facilitating the sharing of
responsibilities for the in situ
conservation of black poplar
genetic resources at pan-
European level. As part of the
common action plan,
participants discussed the first
draft of a survey map on black
poplar populations along
European rivers. The survey
map complements the overall
distribution map of black
poplar already developed by
the Network. It was agreed
that the survey map should be
further developed since it
does not yet include enough
information. The meeting also
decided to define minimum
requirements for black poplar
gene conservation units and
their management. A working
group was established for this
purpose and its outputs will
be discussed during the next
meeting.
The participants also
discussed the Council
Regulation on genetic
resources in agriculture under
which the European Council
is expected to open the first
call for proposals in early
2005. The Network agreed to
develop a project proposal to
carry out inventories of
natural poplar stands, collect
geo-referenced data, set up
clone banks and create a
database. 
The meeting included a
seminar during which the local
organizers provided an
overview and some results of
the ongoing inventories of
natural black poplar trees and
stands in Switzerland. As part
of the inventory, samples from
poplars have also been
collected for molecular
identification. The results
showed that there is a 3%
error in morphological
identification of the most
obvious individuals of black
poplar (i.e. old trees). It was
noted that this error margin is
higher for younger trees. In
addition, the project has made
efforts to optimize search
areas for the field surveys and
has only found weak
correlation between the
occurrence of black poplar
and specific habitat types. The
Swiss inventory project has
also been trying to define new
methods for morphological
identification of pure black
poplar individuals.  
At the end of the meeting
the participants made a field
trip to the floodplain forests of
River Thur at the Thurgau
Canton to learn more about a
river restoration project. The
channelled river bed has been
increased from 50m to 100m
in certain areas while still
keeping some man-made
boundaries. This has brought
water back to the old
floodplain forests and now
new river dynamics are
developing together with
recovering vegetation. 
The field trip also provided
participants with an
opportunity to observe the use
of poplar wood as
construction material in
century-old farm houses in the
Thur Valley. In olden times,
local people used poplar
wood in many ways because
it was abundant, cheap and
light, yet durable. Indeed the
durability of poplar wood was
clearly observed in various
structures of the old houses;
wood of Norway spruce, for
example, had suffered
damage from insects, whereas
poplar wood had no such
problem. 
A summary of the meeting
report is available at the
EUFORGEN Web site
(www.euforgen.org).
6
IPGRI Newsletter For Europe
Ninth Populus nigra Network meeting
European Forest Genetic Resources Programme
Transportation of poplar log for construction purposes in Feldi,
Switzerland in 1915. Photo: Family Kurt Hofmann
EUFORGEN
The Liaison Unit Warsaw of
the Ministerial Conference on
the Protection of Forests in
Europe (MCPFE) organized
the annual Expert Level
meeting in Warsaw, Poland on
14-15 October 2004. The
meeting reviewed the
implementation of the new
MCPFE Work Programme
adopted in October 2003 as a
follow-up to the Resolutions
made at the Vienna Ministerial
Conference in April 2003.
Representatives from 30
European countries and the
European Commission, 17
observer organizations and
one observer country
(Canada) also discussed
future MCPFE activities. 
Some of the topics
discussed in more detail
included national forest
programmes (NFPs) and illegal
logging. NFPs provide a
platform for various
stakeholders within the forest
sector to discuss and agree
forest-related policies and
their implementation at
national level. They  also
facilitate cross-sectoral work
on forest-related issues. 
Illegal logging was also
highlighted as a widespread
problem, with impacts on
economic, ecological and
social aspects of sustainable
forest management. Illegal
logging is debated both in
Europe and globally with
different definitions as to what
is “illegal”. To clarify the
situation, the European Forest
Institute (EFI) has coordinated
a study to collect information
on illegal logging and related
trade of timber and other
forest products in Europe, the
results of which will be
available by the end of 2004. 
EUFORGEN activities are
part of the MCPFE Work
Programme and IPGRI
presented recent EUFORGEN
outputs and the Programme’s
new objectives for Phase III
(2005-2009) adopted by the
EUFORGEN Steering
Committee in May 2004 (see
NL28 for details on Phase III). 
IPGRI is also involved in
two other MCPFE related
activities, namely
development of an
international capacity building
programme on FGR in
collaboration with Austria (see
article on p. 8 of this
Newsletter) and a workshop
on the role of forest genetic
diversity in improving the
adaptability of forests to
climate change and
maintaining forest productivity
under changing environmental
conditions. The workshop will
be organized in collaboration
with the International Union of
Forest Research Organizations
(IUFRO) during spring 2006
and aims to provide policy
recommendations for the
MCPFE process and practical
recommendations for
sustainable forest
management. 
The next Expert Level
meeting will be held in
Warsaw on 12-13 September
2005 (www.mcpfe.org).
7IPGRI Newsletter For Europe
EUFORGEN http://www.euforgen.org
Annual MCPFE Expert Level meeting 
Several Resolutions made by the Ministerial Conferences on the Protection of Forests in Europe
(MCPFE) are based on issues raised by the scientific community. The MCPFE process has also
acknowledged the role of science in policy-making and stressed the need to build the policy process on
research findings and other solid information. However, the expectations of policy-makers and outputs
of scientists do not always coincide, i.e. there are gaps between current policy issues and ongoing
research. 
On 13 October 2004, a preparatory workshop analyzed these gaps and discussed the past and
future of the science-policy interface in Warsaw, Poland. The workshop was hosted by the Polish Forest
Research Institute and organized by the European Forest Institute (EFI), in collaboration with the
International Institute for Applied System Analysis (IIASA), the International Union of Forest Research
Organizations (IUFRO), IPGRI and the United Nations University (UNU). Policy-makers from several
European countries and representatives of the EC and the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF)
participated in the workshop. The state of needs, potentials and policy relevance of research for the
MCPFE process was summarized based on a survey carried out by EFI and other inputs (visit
www.efi.fi/events/2004/preparatory_workshop/ for details). 
The outputs of the workshop serve as a basis for preparations of a conference in November 2005 to
strengthen the science-policy interface as part of the MCPFE process. The objectives of the November
conference include identification of key socio-economic, environmental and policy issues and emerging
information needs from the point of view of the MCPFE process. The conference also aims at sharing
the latest knowledge on the impacts of alternative policy tools, including cross-sectoral policy impacts
and facilitating monitoring of the progress in implementing the MCPFE commitments. More information
on this conference is available at www.efi.fi/events/2005/policy_interface/ 
Science and the MCPFE process
New Technical Guidelines for
genetic conservation are now
available for: black pine (Pinus
nigra), Italian stone pine (Pinus
pinea), wild service tree
(Sorbus torminalis), European
and pedunculate oaks
(Quercus petraea/Q. robur),
cork oak (Quercus suber),
Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris)
and field maple (Acer
campestre).
Copies are available from
the EUFORGEN secretariat
(euf_secretariat@cgiar.org) or
downloadable as PDFs from
www.euforgen.org. The
distribution maps are also
available through the Web site. 
EUFORGEN
Technical
Guidelines
8
IPGRI Newsletter For Europe
IPGRI, in collaboration with
the Federal Office and
Research Centre for Forests
(BFW) Department of
Genetics, Vienna, Austria is
organizing the activities of the
project “Developing training
capacity and human resources
for the management of forest
biodiversity”. The aim of the
project is to establish a
multidisciplinary collaborative
training programme that will
address the urgent needs and
challenges of biodiversity
management in forest
production systems in
developing countries.
The core activities during
the five-year project will be: 
(i) five inter-related two-week
training workshops of 20-25
participants each; (ii) five
individual research fellowships
each of two years’ duration
(see call for applications on
p.8 of this NL). Both will focus
on a different IPGRI region
every year. 
Taking into consideration
Austrian Ministry of Foreign
Affairs priorities for
development in the region and
the IPGRI strategy in the
region, the first year of the
training course and the
fellowship will be open to
participants from southeastern
Europe and the Caucasus
(Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan,
Belarus, Bosnia &
Herzegovina, Bulgaria,
Georgia, Macedonia FYR,
Moldova, Romania, Russian
Federation, Serbia &
Montenegro and Ukraine).
Training Workshop
The training workshop aims
to give a common
background to graduate
students and young
scientists already working on
forest biodiversity and will
address the urgent needs
and challenges of
biodiversity management in
forest production systems in
developing countries. It will
give strong emphasis to
promoting the links between
forest biodiversity and forest
genetic resources and
sustainable livelihoods. The
ecosystem approach will be
used as a general concept
for addressing the challenges
associated with the
conservation and sustainable
use of forest biodiversity.
For the project year 2004-
2005 the two-week training
workshop will take place in
the Russian Federation in
April 2005 and will be held in
English. It will cover the
following areas: (i) Forest
biodiversity - policy, legal
and economic aspects; 
(ii) Genetic diversity; 
(iii) Evolutionary genetics in
forest tree populations; 
(iv) Spatial pattern of genetic
diversity and its sampling; 
(v) In situ conservation; 
(vi) Ex situ conservation; 
(vii) Genetic conservation in
forestry practice; and 
(viii) it will also have a
regional component,
focusing on specific matters
such as the MCPFE and
inventorying practices in
former Soviet Union
countries. Lectures will be
given by eminent scientists
from Austria and worldwide.
Fellowships
Every year of the five-year
project a two-year fellowship
will be awarded to outstanding
young scientists from the
target region with expected
increased responsibilities in
the field of forest genetic
resources.
The research fellowships
will be awarded to selected
individuals (with 1-5 years’
working experience in the
area) from respective national
programmes, identified on the
basis of research innovation
and practical relevance of the
research topic to the home
institute and country. Each
fellowship will have a duration
of 24 months and will take the
form of a research project
conducted at the host institute
in Austria. 
An individual work
programme will be
elaborated together with the
host institute and will include
data gathering and
preparation of research
material in the home country.
To promote sustainability of
the research skills acquired,
each fellow will receive
coaching following his/her
return to the home institute at
the end of the fellowship.
Follow-up work (analyses to
be carried out in the home
institute and report writing)
will be scientifically
supported by the Austrian
host institute. The selected
fellows will develop, with the
technical support and advice
of the Austrian BFW
Department of Genetics, a
two-year innovative research
programme on forest genetic
resources. The research will
focus on topics relevant to
the applicant’s home country.
BFW Department of
Genetics will host the fellows
in its laboratories and will
provide the technical
backstopping and laboratory
facilities.
Developing training capacity and human resources for the
management of forest biodiversity: an Austrian-funded programme 
One two-week training workshop on 
participants);
One 24 month-fellowship on Forest G
For both the training workshop and the 
criteria are as follows:
• Citizenship of one of the following c
Belarus, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulg
Moldova, Romania, Russian Federat
• B.Sc. Degree in forestry or related fie
• Technical background and experienc
resources); 
• Documented, increasing responsibil
management in the country concern
• Good knowledge of English; 
• Maximum age: 40 years;
• For the fellowship only: 1-5 years’ w
For the training workshop, IPGRI wil
and meals, training material and visa.
For the two-year fellowship, IPGRI w
living costs in Austria, two return tickets
participation in the training workshop (s
Enquiries and applications should be
Applicants should send a cover letter an
names and contact details of at least tw
of the applicant’s current work and futur
January 2005.
Call for applications
Female cones of European larch. 
Different colour is inherited by a
single gene. Photo: T. Geburek 
9IPGRI Newsletter For Europe
On 15-18 September, the
Institute for Vine and Wine
“Magarach”, Yalta, Ukraine
hosted the second project
meeting on “Development of
national programmes on plant
genetic resources in
southeastern Europe”. 
National programmes
comprise activities which
ensure the conditions for
sustainable conservation and
use of genetic resources (GR).
The project aims to:
strengthen the less endowed
national programmes in
southeastern Europe; facilitate
international collaboration
between national programmes
and aid their integration within
the broader context of
collaborative activities in
Europe.  The beneficiary
countries involved are:
Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia,
Moldova, Russian Federation
and Ukraine.  The project
focuses on improving the
conditions for the
conservation and use of
grapevine and broadleaved
forest GR.
After the presentation of
the progress made by
beneficiary countries during
the first year (2003-2004), the
representatives of
collaborating Institutions from
Austria, Germany, Italy and
Luxembourg shared relevant
activities and achievements
and expressed their
suggestions for collaborative
action. The most important
achievement of this meeting
was the development of the
workplan for the next project
year (October 2004 –
September 2005).
Fellowships at the Centre
de Recherche Public Gabriel
Lippmann (CRPGL),
Luxembourg and at the
Department of Plant
Production of the University of
Milan, Italy will be offered by
IPGRI to young scientists from
the beneficiary countries.  This
important component of the
project aims to achieve a
uniform approach in the region
and to develop a strong
working team.  Three research
fellows conducted their
programmes at these two
Institutions during the first
project year.
This meeting will enhance
active collaboration between
the two components of the
project (the grapevine and
broadleaves GR) in areas such
as the recording of wild
grapevine in the forests.
David Maghradze from the
Research Institute of
Horticulture, Viticulture and
Wine-making in Tbilisi,
Georgia, was invited by IPGRI
to act as project facilitator
during the second year of the
project. 
It was agreed that each
country will complete the list
of autochthonous varieties
with a short description of
their effective status in the
collections, considered
essential for implementing the
conservation projects in each
country. All project partners
will ensure proper
maintenance and restoration
of the genetic material listed in
the inventory. These actions
will be financially supported
from the project budget. 
The archaeobotany of
grapevine in Ukraine and
research into grapevine
diversity of the past were
considered important research
components of the project.
The Bioarchaeological
Research Centre, Rome, Italy
will develop a proposal for
descriptors of the grapevine
seeds.  
It was also agreed that the
IPGRI Descriptors for Vitis
should be used wherever
appropriate. The project
participants felt that support
by the project should be
offered to develop and
produce the revised
Descriptors. 
It was decided that project
partners will provide inputs to
the European Vitis database.
To read more please visit
www.ipgri.cgiar.org/regions/eu
rope/Projects/SE-Europe/
ProjectMeetingYalta.htm
Development of national programmes on plant genetic resources
in southeastern Europe
Forest Biodiversity (20-25
Genetics.
two-year fellowship, the application
ountries: Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan,
garia, Georgia, Macedonia FYR,
tion, Serbia & Montenegro and Ukraine;
elds;
ce in the relevant area (forest genetic
ity in the relevant area, research or
ned; 
working experience in the area.
ll cover travel costs, accommodation
will provide a monthly grant to cover
s per year and will support the fellow’s
ee above).
e sent to: ipgri-europe@cgiar.org.
nd Curriculum Vitae in English with the
wo referees and a two-page description
re plans. Deadline for applications 31
Georgian grape variety "Mudjuretuli". Photo: L. Brancadoro 
Alvina Avagyan
Agricultural Support
Republican Center
Erevan
Armenia
Armenia has great natural
plant diversity owing to the
concentration of many
different soil, climatic,
hydrological and geological-
morphological conditions on a
very small territory.
By the end of 20th century
the continual reduction in plant
genetic diversity in Armenia
reached dangerously low
levels. As a consequence, a
number of strategic documents
dealing with the conservation
and sustainable use of national
genetic resources have been
developed.
After the Convention on
Biological
Diversity (CBD)
and a number of
other international
agreements came
into force,
activities on
conservation of
genetic resources
became closely
interwoven with an
international issue
of access and
benefit-sharing on
a fair and
equitable basis.
Today free access to
germplasm, and the
conservation of wealth and
variety of the genepool, play
an extremely important role in
solving the risks associated
with genetic homogeneity of
the main crops, averting
genetic erosion and ensuring
economic growth, food
security, improved health and
sustainable development.
The significance of this
issue led to the development
of a National Strategy on
access to, benefit-sharing and
conservation and rational use
of genetic resources within the
framework of the project
“Assessment of Biodiversity
Priority Capacity Building
Needs and Establishment of
Clearing House Mechanism in
Armenia” (2002).
The Strategy has been
developed on the basis of
Bonn Guidelines approved at
the VI Conference of Parties
(The Hague, Resolution VI/24),
in accordance with the
objectives and provisions of
the CBD, taking into
consideration the national
peculiarities and legislation of
the Republic of Armenia. The
basic principles of the
Strategy include:
• Description of genetic
resources obtained in situ
and ex situ, by receiving
prior informed consent
from the appropriate
competent national
authorities;
• Procedures for granting
genetic resources by the
owner organization and
their utilization by the
recipient;
• Principles of equitable
sharing of monetary and
non-monetary benefits
arising from utilization of
genetic resources.
The Strategy envisages the
involvement of broad sections
of the public as relevant
stakeholders, including state
ministries, private companies,
commercial enterprises, farms
and local and indigenous
communities and international
and non-governmental
organizations. The Strategy
foresees three basic steps in
the implementation of the
mechanisms for access to
genetic resources: 
• Receiving prior informed
consent, taking into
consideration the
principles and elements of
the prior informed consent
system;
• Development of mutually
agreed terms in response
to requirements and
equitable sharing of
benefits;
• Monitoring and reporting
on enforcement of
agreements and their
implementation; 
• Creating a functional
coordinated mechanism
for access to genetic
resources that involves a
number of tasks included
in the Plan of Action for
implementation of the
Strategy. This includes a
number of key measures: 
• Appointment of a
competent national
authority and national
coordination center (Focal
Point) responsible for
granting access to
genetic resources on the
basis of prior informed
consent; evaluation and
monitoring of access and
benefit-sharing
agreements; ensuring
biosafety; and providing
information and
consultancy services;
• Definition of a list of
genetic resources for free
access, taking into
consideration their status,
significance for food safety
and Armenia’s
dependency on these
genetic resources;
• Development of a
mechanism to evaluate
genetic resources, taking
into consideration
categories of utilization
(commercial, non-
commercial);
• Improvement of legislation
in the area of biodiversity
conservation and
sustainable utilization;
• Raising public awareness
on the principles of access
to genetic resources and
mechanisms of benefit-
sharing from their
utilization;
• Training on issues of
access and benefit-
sharing.
Implementation of the
Strategy on the one hand will
facilitate access to genetic
resources and technologies of
their utilization in accordance
with the CBD, on the other it
will support the conservation
of Armenian genetic resources
and will control the fair sharing
of benefits arising from their
utilization.
10
IPGRI Newsletter For Europe
Development of a strategy on genetic resources access and
benefit-sharing in Armenia 
Wild wheat species and poppy in the Erebuni 
reserve, Armenia. Photo: A. Avagyan 
Juozas Labokas
Institute of Botany
Vilnius
Lithuania
The national Law on Plant
National Genetic Resources
passed in October 2001 with
the follow-up adoption of
several legal acts resulting in
substantial changes in the
field of PGR activities in
Lithuania.
One of the first steps was
the establishment of the
Standing Commission on
Plant National Genetic
Resources in March 2002, as
the main advisory body to the
Ministry of Environment, the
implementing institution. The
Commission consists of the
representatives of three
ministries and eight research
and education institutions. It
meets four times a year and
reports to the Ministry every
year.
The backbone of the
national PGR system is the
Plant Gene Bank, established
on 1 January 2004 (although it
has operated as a department
of the Lithuanian Institute of
Agriculture since 1993) and
five crop coordinating centres.
The functions of the
Coordinating Centres have
been entrusted to the
Lithuanian Institute of
Agriculture (field crops),
Lithuanian Institute of
Horticulture (horticultural
crops), Lithuanian Forest
Research Institute (forest tree
species), Vilnius University
(ornamental plants) and
Institute of Botany (medicinal
and aromatic plants). 
The national Law has also
contributed to the
development of in situ
conservation of PGR and the
establishment of the
regulations on plant genetic
reserves, forest genetic
reserves and genetic plots as
state protected areas.
Under Article 6 of the
Law, scientific research,
collecting, implementation of
the measures of restoration
and conservation of plant
national genetic resources
are all financed by the state
budget. This has led to the
establishment of a national
programme “Scientific
research of plant genetic
resources”, approved for
funding by the Ministry of
Education and Science in
2003. Ten research and
education institutions take
part in the programme with
ten crop-specific projects.
The programme ensures the
continuity and integrity of the
coordinated PGR research
and conservation activities
commenced ten years ago.
11IPGRI Newsletter For Europe
Lithuania: Implementation of the Law on Plant National Genetic
Resources
Mario Marino, Ministero delle Politiche Agricole e Forestali (MiPAF), Rome, Italy
The International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture
(PGRFA) aims at implementing a Multilateral System of access to a list of the 
most important food and fodder crops essential for food security. It will ensure 
that benefits from the commercial use of the genetic resources of these crops 
are returned to farmers in developing countries, the original source of most of 
the resources.
The FAO Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture completed the Treaty
negotiations in 2001 and Italy, along with other European countries, ratified this important instrument
through national law no. 101, adopted on 6 April 2004. 
The Treaty’s potential as a legally binding agreement in the context of PGRFA is to ensure that the
genetic resources that underpin social needs are maintained in the public domain.
The new national law has separated the responsibilities for implementing the Treaty between the
Ministero delle Politiche Agricole e Forestali (MiPAF) (Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry Policies),
Ministero dell’Ambiente (Ministry of Environment) and Ministero degli Affari Esteri (Ministry of Foreign
Affairs). MiPAF is responsible for implementing article 5 of the Treaty, concerned with promoting an
integrated approach to the exploration, conservation and sustainable use of PGRFA. 
The activities of article 5 will be developed in collaboration with the Consiglio per la Ricerca e la
Sperimentazione in Agricoltura (National Council for Agricultural Research) that includes 28 public
institutions of the Italian agricultural research network. A national financial strategy has been developed
and the annex of the law of ratification includes measures to make available a budget of 1 172 000
Euros per year for the implementation of the activities.
The implementation of the International Treaty is an important process for Italian agriculture if we
consider the potential use of cultivated and wild plant genetic resources, particularly those varieties and
populations that have been domesticated in Italy and those linked to the traditional knowledge and
typical Italian cuisine and culture.
One of the most important elements is the valorization of PGRFA and the sharing of financial
benefits derived from their use and commercialization. As a result of the ratification and implementation
process in Italy, we expect to realize in the near future better conditions to facilitate access and benefit-
sharing for all PGRFA.
Italy ratifies the International Treaty
Institute of Botany, Vilnius, Lithuania. Photo: Institute of Botany.
12
IPGRI Newsletter For Europe
News from IPGRI...
Toby Hodgkin
Principal Scientist
Genetic Resources Science
and Technology Group (GRST)
IPGRI
Annie Lane
Scientist, Global Project
Coordinator, GRST Group,
IPGRI
“In situ conservation of crop
wild relatives through
enhanced information
management and field
application” is a UNEP/GEF
supported project aimed at
improving the conservation
and use of crop wild relatives.
This large, multi-faceted, five-
year project was launched in
April 2004 and brings together
five countries and six
international organizations to
manage and make use of the
wild relatives of important
crops.
Conserving crop wild
relatives successfully is
generally acknowledged to be
a particularly challenging task
and there are many different
problems to be faced.
Undoubtedly, however, a
major limitation lies in the
capacity to bring together and
use information which is
plentiful, but is often
dispersed and not easily
accessible.
The project brings together
five countries; Armenia,
Bolivia, Madagascar, Sri Lanka
and Uzbekistan, with IPGRI as
the project manager, and five
other international
conservation agencies: the
Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United
Nations (FAO), Botanic
Gardens Conservation
International (BGCI), the
United Nations Environment
Programme’s World
Conservation Monitoring
Centre (UNEP-WCMC), the
World Conservation Union
(IUCN) and the German Centre
for Documentation and
Information in Agriculture
(ZADI). Each of the countries
has a significant number of
important and threatened taxa
of crop wild relatives and is
committed to improving their
conservation and use. Each of
the international partners
either holds or has access to
significant information on
these species. The major aims
of the project are to:
• Bring together information
from national and
international sources on
the identity, status,
distribution and potential
use of crop wild relatives in
the five participating
countries;
• Create an International
Information System,
accessible through the
Web, that links global and
national information
resources and allows
determination of
conservation status and
needs for specific crop
wild relatives;
• Develop national
information systems for
crop wild relatives,
drawing together
information from national
sources, which will include
aspects of species biology,
ecology, conservation
status, distribution, crop
production potential, local
community uses and
existing conservation
actions;
• Explore and optimize
procedures to link
information on species
distribution, spatial data
and information from
ecogeographic surveys, so
as to make better
conservation decisions for
these species;
• Identify conservation
actions for species and
populations identified as
having highest priority for
intervention and develop
national plans for
conserving crop wild
relatives;
• Develop action plans for in
situ conservation of crop
wild relatives involving
local communities, so as
to combine security for the
crop relatives with
improved use and the
realization of benefits for
local people;
• Raise awareness within the
countries of the
importance of crop wild
relatives and their value for
improving agricultural
production.
The outcomes of the
project will be widely
disseminated nationally and
globally and successful
strategies (best practices) will
be readily transferable to
other countries with
significant populations of
crop wild relatives. In this
way, global efforts to
conserve biological diversity
in general, and crop wild
relatives in particular, will be
accelerated and optimized for
the benefit of both the global
community and local users.
This first year of project
implementation is dominated
by activities to establish
infrastructure, processes and
personnel. A first International
Steering Committee (ISC)
meeting was held in Sri Lanka
in July 2004 following which
the partner countries have
finalized their implementation
arrangements and appointed
key personnel such as the
National project
Coordinators. An international
meeting on the national and
international information
systems was also held. Other
activities during the first year
include the development of
collaborative agreements,
design of national information
systems and preliminary work
on collecting and organizing
available information. A
Technical Advisory
Committee will also be
established to provide advice
and guidance to the ISC.
The full project document
can be accessed through the
UNEP GEF Web site:
www.unep-wcmc.org/species/
projects/crop_wild.htm  
A global initiative to conserve crop wild relatives in situ with key
European partners
Wild pepper in Sri Lanka. 
Photo: A. Lane, IPGRI
Toby Hodgkin
Principal Scientist
Genetic Resources Science
and Technology Group (GRST)
IPGRI
In order to optimize
conservation and encourage
use of the large number of
accessions they now hold,
genebanks have placed
considerable emphasis on
documentation,
characterization and
evaluation work. In recent
years a number of
genebanks, research workers
and plant breeders have
begun to use molecular
techniques for detailed
fingerprinting of their
material. Molecular methods
are rapidly improving, leading
to a considerable expansion
in the amount of data
available to genebank
managers and needing to be
analyzed and made available
in appropriate ways to the
user community. 
Over the last three years,
with funding support from the
European Union, European
and US genebanks and
institutions have been
involved in a multidisciplinary
multi-partner project exploring
the generation, analysis,
integration and use of
molecular data obtained from
genebank collections and its
relevance to Lactuca
germplasm collections. The
project partners included:
Plant Research International,
Wageningen, The Netherlands;
John Innes Centre, Norwich,
U.K.; University of Hohenheim,
Stuttgart, Germany; National
Centre for Genomic
Resources, Santa Fe, U.S.A.;
KeyGene N.V., Wageningen,
The Netherlands; Palacky
University Olomouc,
Olomouc-Holice, Czech
Republic; Research Institute of
Crop Production, Olomouc-
Holice, Czech Republic;
Institute of Plant Genetics and
Crop Research, Gatersleben,
Germany; and Horticultural
Research International,
Wellesbourne, U.K.
The project brought
together one component
concerned primarily with
management, analysis and
use of molecular data and
another concerned with the
maintenance and use of wild
Lactuca collections. The
objectives were to:
• Develop systems that
support the integration of
large amounts of data;
• Develop systems to ask
biological questions of
large molecular data sets;
• Develop software methods
to analyze large amounts
of molecular data and
obtain answers to the
questions asked;
• Develop methods of
visualizing the results;
• Evaluate whether targeted
molecular markers can be
used to uncover useful
phenotypic variation in
wild Lactuca;
• Determine accessibility of
wild Lactuca in genebanks;
• Determine how well wild
Lactuca is represented in
the world’s genebanks.
It is difficult to summarize
the outputs from such a
complex project with diverse
objectives in a few sentences
and some publications are
already being produced
providing us with information
on different aspects of the
work (see Lebeda et al. 2002,
2004). On the collection,
management and analysis of
molecular data, it is clear that
problems continue to exist in
our ability to analyze,
understand and make use of
accession-level molecular
data, although new
approaches are becoming
available. Far more work in
this area is needed. The work
on Lactuca revealed serious
gaps in conservation in
respect of particular wild taxa
and provided important
insights into the distribution of
diversity of important disease
resistance traits in Europe.
The project will enable us to
develop much more effective
collecting, conservation and
use strategies for these
species.
See also:
Lebeda, A., D.A.C. Pink and
D. Astley.  2002. Aspects of
the interactions between wild
Lactuca spp. and related
genera and lettuce downy
mildew (Bremia lactucae). Pp.
85-117 in Advances in Downy
Mildew Research (P.T.N.
Spencer-Philips, U. Gisis and
A. Lebeda, eds). Kluwer. 
Lebeda, A., I. Dolezalova and
D. Astley. 2004.
Representation of wild
Lactuca spp. (Asteraceae,
Lactuceae) in world genebank
collections. Genet. Res. Crop
Evol. 51:167-174. 
13IPGRI Newsletter For Europe
GENE-MINE: Improving the use of germplasm collections with the
aid of novel methods for genetic data sets
Brian Ford-Lloyd
School of Biosciences
University of Birmingham
United Kingdom
Sónia R. Dias 
& Eliseu Bettencourt
Estação Agronómica Nacional
Instituto Nacional de
Investigação Agrária 
e das Pescas
Oeiras
Portugal
The European crop wild
relative diversity assessment
and conservation forum (PGR
Forum) is funded under the
EC Fifth Framework
Programme (see NL28).
Coordinated at the University
of Birmingham, the project
includes 23 partners from 21
European countries, with the
addition of partners
representing IUCN and
IPGRI.
A series of workshops are
in progress, the most recent
being held at the Training
Centre of the Regional
Directorate for Agrarian
Development, 8-11
September 2004, on Terceira
Island, Azores, Portugal. The
main objective of the
workshop was to agree on
genetic erosion and pollution
assessment methodologies
for European crop wild
relatives (CWR). 
Participants considered
how plant genetic erosion and
pollution might be
predicted and
assessed by
applying existing
methodologies.
The workshop also
considered the
threat of genetic
pollution or
introgression to
wild species, either
from genetically
modified
organisms or from
conventionally
bred crops, as an increasing
risk to the in situ conservation
of European CWR.
The workshop involved
working group (WG)
discussions focused on
“Political and legal issues”,
definition of “Genetic erosion
and genetic pollution”,
“Monitoring at the taxonomic
level”, “Monitoring at and
around the population level”
and “Monitoring at the gene
level”, with six presentations
made by various project
partners. Case studies were
presented on day three, with
WG discussions focusing on
special issues surrounding
genetic erosion and pollution
in agriculture, horticulture
and forestry and a debate on
the CWR species list
prioritization, the hierarchy of
methodologies and future
demands, prospects and
opportunities. 
The workshop ended with
a field trip to sites of
geological and ecological
interest, including traditional
agricultural systems of the
Azores. www.pgrforum.org
14
IPGRI Newsletter For Europe
PGR Forum workshop on genetic erosion and pollution
assessment methodologies
News from IPGRI...
Participants at PGR Forum Workshop 5,
Genetic Erosion and Pollution Assessment
Methodologies, Terceira Island, The Azores,
Portugal
The Global Crop Diversity Trust
entered into force on 21 October
2004 as an independent
international organization when
Sweden signed the agreement
establishing the Trust. The criteria
for recognition under international
law was thus exceeded with 12
signatories from five world regions, comprising Cape Verde,
Ecuador, Egypt, Ethiopia, Jordan, Mali, Morocco, Samoa, Syria,
Sweden, Tonga and Togo.
Along with its signature, Sweden pledged about US$7 million to
the Trust, joining more than a dozen others, including Ethiopia,
which recently pledged US$50 000. The funds will go towards
building a US$260 million Trust endowment. The proceeds,
ultimately about US$12 million per year, will support basic
conservation costs in national and international collections of crop
diversity. The Trust will also provide funding to rescue collections
currently at risk and build capacity in developing countries to
manage such collections.
The Interim Panel of Eminent Experts for the Establishment of
the Trust held its fifth meeting at FAO in Rome on 13-14 October.
According to its mandate, the Panel discussed issues associated
with governance, communications, fundraising and fund allocation
strategies. It also considered proposals for initial upgrading and
capacity building grants. The five grants endorsed in principle for
funding include “Urgent regeneration of food legume and forage
crops at the Vavilov Institute (VIR) in Russia”; and “Securing
important collections of apple genetic resources in Kazakhstan and
Turkmenistan”.
The Panel agreed that potential recipient institutions located in
countries that had not yet ratified the Treaty would be required to
sign a declaration confirming that they would make the materials
available under the terms and conditions of the Treaty and that they
are committed to the long-term conservation of the materials in
question.
To date the Trust has raised about US$57 million toward its
goal with another US$60 million under discussion. In addition to
Ethiopia and Sweden, donors include Australia, Brazil, Canada,
Colombia, Egypt, Switzerland, USA, the Gatsby Foundation, the
Grains Research and Development Council of Australia,
Pioneer/Dupont, the Rockefeller Foundation, Syngenta, the United
Nations Foundation, the World Bank and the Future Harvest
Centres.
The effort to establish the Global Trust was a joint initiative of
FAO and IPGRI on behalf of the Future Harvest Centres of the
Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research. The
Trust is an element in the funding strategy of the International
Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture.
www.startwithaseed.org
Global Crop Diversity Trust: rich and poor
nations sign on to save seeds worldwide
15IPGRI Newsletter For Europe
Staff update
Birgitte Lund joined IPGRI in
August in the position of
AEGIS
Project
Manager, a
pilot project,
based on
selected
crops,
launched by
the ECP/GR
Steering
Committee for the
development of A European
Genebank Integration System
(AEGIS).
Birgitte Lund, a Danish
national, holds a PhD degree
in plant genetic resources from
the Department of Agricultural
Sciences (KVL), Denmark. Her
PhD focused on studies of
repatriation of Nordic barley
germplasm including sharing
of conservation responsibilities
and resulted in peer-reviewed
articles in international
journals.
Birgitte holds a M.Sc. in
Agriculture from the Section of
Plant Pathology, KVL. She
worked for eight years as
Section Leader at the Nordic
Gene Bank (NGB) in Alnarp,
Sweden, involved in
conservation and use of crop
genetic resources, database
management and
documentation, administration,
coordination and management
of research projects.  She also
participated in the Nordic and
Baltic networks as well as in
the European collaborative
activities.
Introducing
Katy Elphinstone joins IPGRI
as Programme Assistant to the
Regional Director. In this
position, she will provide
administrative support in the
areas of communication and
logistics, capacity building
projects in the Region, office
organization and maintenance
of the Europe Group
information resources.
Katy previously worked as
Information Assistant at the
British Council in Rome for
seven years, where she was
responsible for preparing
documentation and
information materials,
organizing meetings, setting
up and
maintaining
databases,
preparing
displays and
general office
organization.
She was also
acting
Information
Manager at the British Council
in Rome for 3 months in 2004. 
Katy is a British citizen. She
holds a B.A. in Italian and Fine
Art from the University of
Wales and a postgraduate
diploma in information studies
from the Robert Gordon
University in Aberdeen, UK.
Katy is of English mother
tongue; she is fluent in Italian
and has some knowledge of
French and German.
Introducing
Sónia Ricardo Dias is a
Portuguese citizen. She holds
a BSc. in
Agricultural
Production
from the
Escola
Superior
Agrária de
Castelo
Branco,
Portugal and a
M.Sc. in Conservation and
Utilization of Plant Genetic
Resources from the University
of Birmingham, UK.
At IPGRI as Programme
Specialist, Documentation and
Information, Sónia will manage
and support the development
of the European Search
Catalogue EURISCO. She will
also provide technical and
scientific support for the
development of accession-
level information in the
framework of the Global Crop
Diversity Trust.
Sónia's professional career
began at the Soil Science
Department, National
Agricultural Research
Station/INIAP. Since April 2000,
she has worked in the
Department of Genetic
Resources and Breeding,
Oeiras, Portugal. Sónia has
participated in meetings of the
European Commission on
negotiation of the International
Treaty and has been involved in
several national and
international PGR projects,
including EURISCO, as
Portugal's national focal person.
Introducing
Season’s
Greetings
from the
Regional
Office
for Europe
ph
ot
o:
 J
. C
he
rf
as
, I
P
G
R
I
15-19 January 2005
Plant and Animal Genome
XIII Conference.
San Diego, California,
USA.
www.intl-pag.org
18-21 April 2005
Promoting Community-
driven Conservation and
Sustainable Use of Dryland
Agrobiodiversity.
Aleppo, Syria.
www.icarda.cgiar.org/Anno
uncement/Agrobiodiversity
_18-21April05.htm
27-29 April 2005
International Conference
on Agricultural Research
for Development: European
Responses to Changing
Global Needs.
Zürich Switzerland.
European Forum for
Agricultural Research for
Development (EFARD).
www.EFARD2005.org
16-18 May 2005
World Agricultural Forum
2005 World Congress. The
Basis of the World
Economy: The Agri-Food
System.
St. Louis, Missouri, USA.
www.worldagforum.org
8-13 August 2005
Forests in the Balance:
Linking tradition and
Technology. IUFRO World
Congress.
Brisbane, Australia.
www.iufro2005.com
REGIONAL OFFICE
FOR EUROPE
c/o IPGRI Headquarters
Via dei Tre Denari 472/a
00057 Maccarese
Rome, Italy
Fax: +39-0661979661
http://www.ipgri.cgiar.org/
regions/europe/home.htm
Forthcoming meetings
Jozef Turok
Regional Director 
Tel: 39-066118250
Email: j.turok@cgiar.org
Michele Bozzano
Programme Specialist
Tel: 39-066118221
Email: m.bozzano@cgiar.org
Aixa Del Greco
Scientific Assistant
Tel: 39-066118224
Email: a.delgreco@cgiar.org
Sónia Dias
Programme Specialist
Tel: 39-066118204
Email: s.dias@cgiar.org
Katy Elphinstone
Programme Assistant
Tel: 39-066118229
Email: k.elphinstone@cgiar.org
Lidwina Koop
Programme Assistant
Tel: 39-066118251
Email: l.koop@cgiar.org
Jarkko Koskela
EUFORGEN Coordinator
Tel: 39-066118223
Email: j.koskela@cgiar.org
Elinor Lipman* 
Scientific Assistant
Tel: 33-467611302
Email: e.lipman@cgiar.org
Birgitte Lund
AEGIS Project Manager
Tel: 39-066118244
Email: b.lund@cgiar.org
Lorenzo Maggioni 
ECP/GR Coordinator
Tel: 39-066118231
Email: l.maggioni@cgiar.org
Olga Spellman* 
Programme Assistant
Tel: 39-066118411
Email: o.spellman@cgiar.org
(*part time)
Editor 
Olga Spellman
Programme Assistant
Layout consultant
Marianne Sinko
Freelance consultant
marianne.sinko@fastwebnet.it
This Newsletter is
produced by the
staff of the Regional
Office for Europe
IPGRI  announces the publication of the Molecular Marker Learning Modules, Volumes
1 and 2. The single CD-Rom incorporates Vol. 1: “Using  Molecular  Marker
Technology in  Studies on  Plant  Genetic  Diversity” and the new Vol. 2: “Genetic
Diversity Analysis with Molecular Marker Data”, developed jointly by IPGRI and the
Institute for Genomic Diversity, Cornell University,  and also with the Universidad
Nacional Agraria 'La Molina', Peru, for Volume 2. These learning modules are aimed at
promoting capacity building and research in biodiversity use and conservation
worldwide, through the application of molecular markers. For orders, please link to
www.earthprint.com/go.htm?to=IPGRI912 or download directly from  the IPGRI Web site at:
www.ipgri.cgiar.org/publications/pubfile.asp?ID_PUB=912
PGR Forum is pleased to announce the: First International Conference on Crop
Wild Relative Conservation and Use. 14-17 September 2005. Agrigento, Sicily,
Italy. First circular and call for papers will be available in December 2004 at:
www.pgrforum.org
The ECP/GR Web site has been completely revised and restructured
(www.ecpgr.cgiar.org). 
All Networks’ and Working Groups’ Web information has been
updated; new search pages and tools have been developed for
“Contacts”, “Meetings”, “Collaborating Organizations” and
“Publications”, with updated information available. New static pages
have also been developed and are continuously updated for content
and links. A new system has been applied to display Email addresses in order to reduce spamming.
New ECP/GR public awareness material has been produced (i.e. a brochure, pens) and more is planned
for the future. The material will be distributed at ECP/GR meetings and related events and, where possible,
made available on the ECP/GR Web site. Your comments/suggestions are welcomed by the ECP/GR
Secretariat at: IPGRI-ECPGR@cgiar.org 
Plant Cryopreservation Training Workshops in Belgium and France in
September/October 2005.
Two training workshops on cryopreservation of plant genetic resources are being
organized in the context of the EU funded project entitled “Establishing
Cryopreservation Methods for Conserving European Plant Germplasm Collections”
(CRYMCEPT), to be held at Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium on 12-25
September 2005 and at IRD, Montpellier, France on 10-23 October 2005. The EU
project addresses an urgent need to develop cryopreservation techniques and protocols for important
plant genetic resources which otherwise could not be adequately conserved using conventional
methods. These workshops will disseminate the results of the research carried out in the project to
develop optimal cryopreservation techniques for a number of plants such as garlic, olive, Ribes, apple,
almond, potato, banana and coffee. The workshops are targeted to benefit germplasm collection holders
in Europe, as well as countries from the EU international cooperation programme target countries. A call
for applications will be launched at the end of the year. For more information please contact Ehsan
Dulloo, Senior Scientist, IPGRI, Rome (email: e.dulloo@cgiar.org). 
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