newsletter
No 25 - December 2002
for Europe
International Plant Genetic Resources Institute
Inside this issue
ECP/GR   2-3
EPGRIS & EURISCO     5
EUFORGEN   6-7
Launch of the GCT     8
Funding opportunities 11
Forthcoming meetings 12
FAO Commission recommends interim MTA
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 three 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 website.
A Russian version of this
Newsletter is being produced
and disseminated in collaboration
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 26 by
14 February 2003.
About this Newsletter
after the 40th country has ratified
it. To date, nine countries have
ratified out of a total of 66
signatories.
Prompted by NGOs, the
Commission held a wide-ranging
discussion on Genetically Modified
Organisms (GMOs) and their
potential effects on centres of
diversity and ex situ germplasm
collections. Steps are being taken
at the Centro Internacional de
Mejoramiento de Maiz y Trigo
(CIMMYT), to test incoming
samples, plus samples already in
the genebank that might contain
the promoter associated with
GMOs – and rigorous procedures
are being implemented to avoid
uncontrolled pollination during the
multiplication of accessions. To
date, no accessions at CIMMYT
have tested positive for the
promoter. The Centro
Internacional de Agricultura
Tropical (CIAT) was commended
for challenging a patent issued in
the US for the “Enola” bean, which
CIAT considers to be identical to
well-known and long-held samples
it holds “in trust”.
Seasons Greetings from
the Regional Office
for Europe
(Continued on page 11)
interim MTA was endorsed by the
Commission and will be forwarded
to Centres for consideration,
approval and eventual use. It
incorporates a voluntary benefit-
sharing provision and continues to
employ the “software” approach,
meaning that if the material is
accepted, so are the terms of the
MTA.
In preparation for future
negotiations on the MTA text to be
used by parties to the Treaty, the
Commission approved the
creation of a Panel of Experts to
examine the issues and make
recommendations to the
Governing Body of the Treaty.
Panel members will be chosen
mainly by governments, with each
geographic region allotted a seat
quota. Experts from the CGIAR,
World Intellectual Property
Organization (WIPO) and the
International Union for the
Protection of New Varieties of
Plants (UPOV) will also be
represented. This panel is
expected to meet in the first half of
2003. The Governing Body itself
will not hold its first meeting until
the Treaty comes into force, i.e.,
St Peter's Dom
e under snow, Rom
e, 1985 (www.meteo-net.it)
Dr C. Fowler
NORAGRIC
Aas, Norway
The ninth regular session of the
Commission on Genetic
Resources for Food and
Agriculture (CGRFA) was held 14-
18 October 2002, at FAO in
Rome, Italy, following the first
meeting of the Interim Committee
for the International Treaty on
Plant Genetic Resources for Food
and Agriculture (Treaty).
The Commission expressed
concern over the erosion of
animal genetic resources
worldwide and recommended
urgent action. The first Report on
the State of the World’s Animal
Genetic Resources is underway
by FAO, and this large, country-
driven process needs to be
completed by 2006. It has not yet
been decided if this process will
culminate in an international
technical conference, similar to
the Leipzig Conference in 1996
and the Global Plan of Action
(GPA) for Plant Genetic
Resources. Plenary sessions
addressed a number of other
issues, such as the
implementation of the GPA and the
status of the Code of Conduct on
Biotechnology.
With the adoption of the new
Treaty in November 2001, a
resolution was passed by FAO
calling for consultations with the
CGIAR to produce a new Material
Transfer Agreement (MTA). This
will be used in conjunction with the
FAO-CGIAR Agreements, under
which Centres hold over half a
million accessions “in trust” for the
international community. Once in
force, the Treaty Governing Body
will have to decide upon a new
standard MTA to be used by
parties to the Treaty and the
CGIAR, containing language
designed to implement the benefit-
sharing provisions of the Treaty.
For use in the period prior to the
Treaty coming into force, an
2IPGRI Newsletter for Europe European Cooperative Programme for Crop
Minor Crops Network - First meeting of the MAPs Working Group
ECP GR
European
Cooperative   
Programme     
for Crop     
Genetic     
Resources    
Networks
The newly established Working
Group on Medicinal and Aromatic
Plants (MAPs) met for the first
time in Gozd Martuljek, Slovenia,
12-14 September 2002, bringing
together 31 participants from 21
European countries. Observers
included representatives of the
World Wide Fund for Nature
(WWF) UK and WWF/TRAFFIC-
Germany, a private consultant,
and local officials and scientists.
An overview of MAP-related
activities was given by
representatives of the
participating countries, highlighting
the broad range of topics to be
addressed by the Group. The
agenda included MAP
conservation and evaluation
databases, a demonstration of the
MEDPLANT database and
methodological approaches in
MAP conservation and evaluation
(molecular tools for the study of
genetic variability in MAPs).
The scope of the MAP
Working Group differs from most
other ECP/GR Working Groups in
that MAPs include hundreds of
species, distributed in a great
number of taxonomic units, and an
exhaustive inventory of European
MAPs is yet to be made. Also,
many species are not cultivated
but harvested from the wild,
making them more vulnerable to
the threat of genetic erosion or
extinction. The linkage of
conservation issues and the
status of environmental protection
of species/habitats, particularly
regarding legal aspects, were
highlighted by many participants.
The Working Group faced the
challenging task of identifying
priority activities to be undertaken
in the broad and complex field of
European MAP genetic resources
conservation. To coordinate and
follow up on the Working Group
activities, Dea Barièeviè, from the
Agronomy Department of the
Biotechnical Faculty, University of
Ljubljana, was elected
Chairperson of the Working Group
and Jeno Bernáth, from the
Department of Medicinal and
Aromatic Plants, SZI University,
Budapest was elected Vice-
Chairperson.
Long-term tasks identified by
the Group include the inventory
and conservation of MAP genetic
resources in Europe; the
characterization/evaluation of
MAPs (development of descriptors
at genus level); and the
development of a European
central MAP database, following
the data format used by the
European catalogue EURISCO.
In the short-term, the Group
agreed to focus on a small number
of species/genera, to be identified
based on importance and need for
urgent attention. The methodology
developed for these priority
species/genera (e.g. inventory of
existing material in situ and ex
situ, definition of characterization
descriptors, establishment of a
database, etc.) will serve as a
model for other species and will
encourage appropriate activities to
be carried out on MAPs at the
national level.
To address the need for
standardized characterization
descriptors, the Group will
develop a list of descriptors based
on lists already available for
species with some degree of
similarity to MAPs (e.g. IPGRI’s
descriptors for Allium spp., Piper
nigrum, Elettaria cardamomum).
These will be adapted in order to
fit MAP specificities, primarily
focusing on the priority species/
genera identified.
All members will strive to
ensure that an exhaustive survey
of natural populations of the
selected priority MAPs is
undertaken in their country to
provide information for a European
MAP genetic resources inventory.
The Group encouraged
collaboration between national
programmes working on the same
plants and also recognized the
need for the development of
harmonized methodologies/
protocols (sampling and
conservation techniques, etc.) by
the national and international
research programmes. A special
recommendation was also made
encouraging collectors to provide
specimens to national herbarium
collections.
The Group parted expressing
the wish to seek funding to allow
the implementation of the agreed
activities and to meet again within
two years in order to report on
and assess the progress made in
the implementation of the
workplan. A full report of this
meeting will be available from the
ECP/GR Secretariat at IPGRI and
will also be made available on the
website at www.ecpgr.cgiar.org/
publications/publications.htm.
Basil
Osimum basilicum, or sweet
basil, is well known for
invigorating the body and spirit,
promoting concentration when
tired.
Thyme
Thymus vulgaris originates from
a plant called "tham" used by the
ancient Egyptions to embalm
bodies. In Greek history, it
means "to exude a smell".
Equisetum
Otherwise known as
"horsetails", this is a very useful
genus, with stems of some
species being used as scourers,
some are eaten and others used
to weave baskets.
Oregano
The name Origanum is derived
from two Greek words, "oros"
(mountain) and "ganos" (joy) -
signifying their preferred habitat.
Puree peppers with balsamic
vinegar.  Saute garlic in oil,
add rosemary, oregano and
pepper flakes.  Add the
pepper puree to the sautéed
herbs and heat thoroughly. 
Add parsley just before
serving.  Serve over warm
fettucine. (Serves two)
Medicinal and Aromatics...
Arnica
Arnica montana oil is used in
massage to ease muscular
aches. Warning: Do not drink oil.
2 red bell peppers, charred
and peeled, seeds removed
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp olive oil
2 (plus) cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp chopped rosemary
1 tbsp chopped oregano
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 cup chopped parsley
200 g fettucine
Text Credits:  Dictionnaire étymologique de botanique. 2000. Couplan,
F.  & The Plant Book, Mabberley, D.J. 1987.
Recipe: Pepper Sauce
Atropa
All plant parts of Atropa
belladonna (deadly nightshade)
are poisonous, and the plant was
historically used by women to
dilate their pupils.De
ut
sc
he
r 
Al
pe
nv
er
ei
n 
M
ün
ch
en
IPGRI Newsletter for Europe3
http://www.ecpgr.cgiar.org Genetic Resources Networks
Second Beta Working Group and World Beta Network meeting
Sea beet populations growing
along the northern part of the
Adriatic Sea shore have been an
important source of resistance to
Cercospora leaf spot and
Rhizomania for centuries. Located
a short distance from the natural
habitat of these critically important
genetic resources, is the Istituto
Sperimentale per le Colture
Industriali, Bologna, Italy, a most
suitable location for the second
joint meeting of the ECP/GR
Working Group on Beta and the
World Beta Network (WBN).
Attended by 28 participants,
including nine Beta Working
Group members and other
experts from the beet growing
regions around the world, the
meeting took place 23-25 October
2002. A main highlight   was the
presentation of the new version of
the International DataBase for
Beta (IDBB). This has been
completely redesigned to allow
duplicate accessions to be
identified, and to facilitate the
definition of decentralized
responsibilities for the
conservation of  most original
samples. The next step will be to
harmonize passport data to fulfill
the  standards agreed for the
EURISCO catalogue (see article
page 5). Characterization and
evaluation data obtained as a
result of the EU-funded project
Gen Res 42 are already included
in the database, which is ready to
receive additional evaluation data
in the original form produced,
following simple guidelines
indicated by the database
manager. Discussion on quality
management guidelines for seed
regeneration concluded with the
agreement that publishing
individual genebank protocols
would enhance transparency and
mutual trust and also be useful for
curators to cross check, critically
revise and improve their own
procedures.
A “Taxonomic guide for wild
and cultivated Beta” by Lothar
Frese is now available online at
www.fal.de/bgrc/eu9542/
default.htm. The guide contains
distribution information for wild
beets and a key to the taxa, and
should be considered a working
document that can be reviewed
and improved. The guide also
contains a preliminary
assessment of the genetic erosion
risk for some species, aimed at
encouraging local authorities
responsible for nature
preservation in the distribution
area of wild Beta species.
Significant results were also
presented on the evaluation of
approximately 600 Beta
accessions from the German
Genebank for resistance to eight
diseases of major economic
importance in the European sugar-
beet crop. Results obtained from
11 collaborating institutes showed
that highly resistant accessions
occurred at a frequency of
between 0.2 and 5.0% depending
on the disease.
For the future operation of the
Working Group and the WBN,
areas of activity will be defined and
initiatives delegated to “thematic
moderators“, as the new driving
forces.  Proposed areas include:
evaluation and pre-breeding; in
situ and on-farm conservation;
international core collection and
molecular techniques. A joint Beta
Working Group/WBN Coordinating
Committee was also established to
organize meetings and identify
funds for the activities.
The Working Group also
recommended that in the near
future, funds be allocated by the
ECP/GR Steering Committee to
hold one meeting of the Group,
and additional funds be managed
as a “Beta fund” for small technical
meetings and ad hoc actions. A
report of the meeting is under
preparation by the ECP/GR
Secretariat at IPGRI.
The Network Coordinating
Group (NCG) of the ECP/GR
Industrial Crops and Potato
Network met for the second
time, 22 October 2002 in
Bologna, Italy, hosted by the
Istituto Sperimentale per le
Colture Industriali (ISCI).
Representatives of the Beta and
Potato Working Groups and of
the flax ad hoc initiatives,
exchanged information and ideas
and identified priority activities to
be undertaken during the next
phase of ECP/GR (2004-2008).
Considering the good progress
of the Beta and Potato
databases achieved with the
inclusion of characterization and
evaluation data, the NCG
suggested the continuation of the
Working Groups and the
organization of a third meeting of
each Group. The future meeting
of the Potato Group will be used
to formalize responsibilities for
the maintenance of unique potato
germplasm clones and to closely
monitor their phytosanitary
status. An accurate analysis of
the duplication status of material
in the European collections by
the central database managers
would serve as a basis for the
definition of shared
responsibilities. The ECP/GR
Beta Working Group will continue
to facilitate the formalization of
responsibilities on a
decentralized basis, and
address specific issues such as
the complementary conservation
strategy for Beta genetic
resources in Europe, with
special attention to the
conservation of the wild
populations.
The proposal to establish a
Working Group on fibre crops
(flax and hemp) was made in
response to the reduced
breeding activity of these crops
in Europe, which is putting these
genetic resources at risk. These
crops are becoming increasingly
important in the car, textile and
pharmaceutical industries. An
offer made by ISCI to host a
European database on hemp
was welcomed and supported by
the FAO/ESCORENA Network
on flax and other bast plants.
NCG also agreed that ECP/GR
could offer technical advice on
the development of a European
sunflower database as well as
the appropriate framework to
facilitate data flow. A full report of
this meeting is available from the
ECP/GR Secretariat at IPGRI
and will also be made available
on the website
www.ecpgr.cgiar.org/
publications/publications.htm.
Industrial Crops and Potato Network
Coordinating Group
Diversity in Beta species (Photo: IACR, Broom's Barn, UK)
IPGRI Newsletter for Europe4
“What would our
lives be like
without plant and
animal diversity?
Both their natural
diversity and the
diversity created
by human
activities
contribute to the
basic needs of
people. It is of interest for all
countries in the world to conserve
and use biological diversity” said
Renate Künast, Federal Minister of
Consumer Protection, in her
opening speech at the Symposium
on Biological Diversity in Berlin,
Germany. Held 19 September
2002, the Symposium was
organized by the German Federal
Ministry of Consumer Protection
and the Information Centre for
Biological Diversity (IBV/ZADI). It
brought together more than 100
people, mainly NGOs and private
breeders, to discuss the present
situation and perspectives of
genetic resources for agriculture,
forestry and food. Participants
brought brochures, posters and
other information materials on the
vast range of current activities in
this field – as well as tasty
samples of food products made
Symposium on biological diversity in Germany
from local plant varieties and
animal breeds. These provided
real examples of the actual uses
of genetic diversity of plants and
animals.
Presentations and
discussions provided a good
overview of the measures
necessary to conserve genetic
resources for agriculture, forestry
and food. The concept of national
programmes for genetic
resources of agricultural and
horticultural plants, animals,
forest trees, aquatic and microbial
organisms was introduced. These
play a central role in defining
federal policy and in planning and
coordinating conservation
measures.
 A better understanding of the
different approaches taken by
national programmes was one of
the main outcomes of this
symposium, and that closer
cooperation between these
programmes creates synergy
and adds value to the efforts
made in each individual country. It
was also highlighted that to date,
animal genetic resources, and
aquatic and microbial organisms
have received very little attention
in most countries. The research
and information work initiated by
the Federal Ministry of Consumer
Protection has made a significant
contribution in this field. IBV/ZADI
was recently established as a
coordination unit and information
provider to serve the different
stakeholders at the national level
and as a reference point for
international information
exchange.
There is a need for farmers
and consumers to be more
integrated in future activities on
the conservation and sustainable
use of genetic resources in
Germany. As emphasized by
Minister Künast “…the interest of
consumers is on the regional,
special character of agricultural
products. The conservation and
enhancement of biological
diversity is part of our national
strategy for sustainability in
agriculture.”
The Symposium convinced
participants that the conservation
and use of biological diversity is
not only associated with hard
work and theory, but has real,
tasty results as the food samples
demonstrated.
For more information, contact
the Information Centre for
Biological Diversity (IBV/ZADI):
www.zadi.de/ibv.
Dr R. Hoekstra
Centre for Genetic Resources
The Netherlands (CGN)
Wageningen, The Netherlands
The second meeting of the ECP/
GR Working Group on Potato
took place 14 July 2002 in
Hamburg, Germany,
sandwiched between the Second
Conference of the Global
Initiative on Late Blight (GILB)
and the 15th Triennial
Conference of the European
Association for Potato Research
(EAPR). The 24 participants
from 19 countries included
representatives of potato
collections in Russia, Ukraine
and the US Potato Genebank,
the German plant breeders
organisation GFP, ASSINSEL,
and the Association of Potato
Intergenebank Collaborators
(APIC). Representatives from
Cyprus, Slovakia and Slovenia
also participated in the Working
Group for the first time.
Organised by the Centre for
Republic, Poland and Hungary.
This material is mainly
maintained in the form of true
seed. The database can be
downloaded from
www.genebank.nl/eupotato/ and
will soon be updated, following
the identification of previously
unknown duplicates of cultivated
species (within and between
genebanks).
After an extensive discussion
the Group agreed to establish a
European core potato variety
collection, enabling priorities to
be set for virus cleaning,
characterization, safety
duplication etc. Representatives
from each participating country
will select national varieties to be
included in the core collection.
The selection criteria will include
cultural value, valuable traits,
(past) area of cultivation and
genetic diversity.
It was proposed that the ECP/
GR Working Group on Potato
should meet again with the 16th
triennial EAPR meeting in Spain
2005. A full report of this meeting
will be available from IPGRI
Regional Office for Europe and
will also be made available on the
ECP/GR website:
www.ecpgr.cgiar.org/
publications/publications.htm.
Second meeting of ECP/GR Potato Working Group
Symposium participants enjoying
samples of regional varieties and
breeds (Photo: IBV/ZADI,
Germany)
Genetic Resources, The
Netherlands (CGN), in
collaboration with IPGRI, the
meeting focused on the ongoing
conservation, characterisation/
evaluation and documentation
activities of potato genetic
resources in different European
countries. The common database
on clonal potato stocks,
developed and maintained by the
Scottish Agricultural Science
Agency, holds over 11 600
records for about 4000 cultivars
and 1400 breeding lines and can
be searched online at
www.europotato.com. The next
step will be to include data from
the East European potato
collections and to develop
guidelines for variety
maintenance.
The common database on wild
and primitive potato species,
established by CGN, contains 11
842 records including 9582
distinct accessions maintained in
Russia, Germany, the
Netherlands, UK, the Czech
Gnocchi: A traditional Italian dish
(www.lasardegna.it/gnocchi.htm)
EPGRIS entering its third and final year
IPGRI Newsletter for Europe5
The European Plant Genetic
Resources Information Infra-
Structure project (EPGRIS)
funded by the EU, aims at
strengthening national ex situ
PGR inventories through the
development of a European web
catalogue called EURISCO. Now
entering its third and final year, the
second round of sub-regional
meetings were held this summer,
enabling the Focal Persons to
report on the status of their
National Inventories and to
discuss needs and priorities.
EPGRIS is a network of 40
National Focal Persons
representing 43 European
countries. These sub-regional
meetings also provided
opportunities to discuss how
EURISCO works (see Box), the
uploading mechanism, the
technical guidelines for the data
files and the data checking,
validation and feedback to
National Inventory. The principles,
responsibilities and process at the
national and central levels, i.e. the
EURISCO level, were agreed
upon. Now that the common
standards for the exchange of
information (EURISCO
Descriptors) have been agreed,
the uploading of data sets from 30
Inventories has been undertaken
for testing in EURISCO by
December 2002. Additionally, a
compilation of initial datasets
extracted from the European
Central Crop Databases will
provide a reference for those
countries that do not yet have a
National Inventory.
The project will hold its final
meeting in September 2003 in
Prague, Czech Republic. Activities
prior to the final meeting include
finalizing the EURISCO web
search catalogue; organizing
workshops, individual training and
staff exchanges, and providing
support to countries to publish
their National Inventory on the
web through the creation of
national web sites.
For more information on EPGRIS
visit www.ecpgr.cgiar.org/epgris.
The EPGRIS project is now past
the half way point, and the
catalogue of crop passport data in
Europe (EURISCO) is
progressing well. The upcoming
introduction of EURISCO vis a vis
the continuing development of the
Central Crop Databases (CCDBs)
has raised a number of questions
including:
● Should the CCDBs continue
to collect missing passport
data or should they wait for
EURISCO to become
operational?
●  Will EURISCO and the
CCDBs remain compatible or
will they use different
standards?
Before the end of 2003, the first
version of EURISCO is expected
to be launched online and to
contain a combination of data
available from the existing
National Inventories and CCDBs.
At this point, EURISCO will
become a very useful source of
data for the CCDBs. EURISCO is
expected to gradually develop and
become the most complete and
reliable source of passport data in
Europe - this process may take
few years. In the meantime, the
EPGRIS project partners suggest
the CCDB managers take the
following action:
● CCDBs to harmonize their
structure with EURISCO. This
is vital to enable the CCDBs to
build upon the passport data
taken or available from
EURISCO.
● Existing and new CCDBs
should not refrain from
gathering data in the traditional
way before EURISCO
becomes operational or until it
has collected enough data to
objectively become the
preferred source of passport
data.
● Once EURISCO becomes
operational (anticipated in
September 2003), CCDB
managers should consider
retrieving data from
EURISCO.
EURISCO is eventually expected
to replace the process of
collecting passport data for the
CCDBs. The validity of data in
EURISCO will be guaranteed by
the respective National Inventory
Focal Persons of each country.
While EURISCO will initially reflect
the limited and inhomogeneous
development of National
Inventories in Europe, the gradual
improvement of national
information systems will result in
increasing completeness of
EURISCO, which will be as up-to-
date as every contributing
National Inventory. Although
initially it may not be convenient,
especially for well developed
databases to retrieve data from
EURISCO, the situation is
expected to rapidly improve within
two to three years.
Once EURISCO becomes the
preferred and most reliable source
of passport data, the CCDBs and
their managers should eventually
be able to fully assume the
function that has recurrently been
attributed to them. That is -
gathering characterization and
evaluation data, analyzing
information in the databases, and
promoting the coordination of
activities, such as helping in
defining European collections,
core collections, safety duplication
and collecting needs.
EURISCO and Central Crop Databases
The central infrastructure of
EURISCO has been developed
with open source software –
software that can be freely
distributed, allows modifications,
includes source codes, does not
depend on the program being
part of a particular software
distribution, and does not place
restrictions on other software
distributed along with the
licensed software. This strategic
choice allows national partners
to benefit from the development
of EURISCO in their national
implementation. The uploading
mechanism is designed to allow
an easy data check of the
information provided in National
Inventories, including both
essential descriptors and a line
by line check.  For the time
being, the files should be
provided as tab delimited text
files sent to IPGRI via email or
via ftp or http through the
EURISCO Intranet. The
emphasis is on ensuring
participation from national
partners through intense
feedback and helpdesk support.
The checking and validation
procedures will assist the
national partners in their efforts
to improve the accuracy of their
information with their data
providers at the national level.
How does EURISCO
work?
IPGRI Newsletter for Europe
European Forest Genetic Resources Programme6
Involving participants from 25
countries, the third meeting of the
EUFORGEN Conifers Network
took place 17-19 October 2002 in
Kostrzyca, Poland.
The participation and
involvement of all European
countries in the EUFORGEN
Network meetings was stressed:
this is particularly important as the
Network moves towards
developing common systems for
sharing information and making it
available for researchers,
scientists and policymakers.
The need to inform those
involved in the forestry and
environmental policy process,
including the Ministerial
Conference on the protection of
Forest in Europe (MCPFE) and the
Pan-European Biological and
Landscape Diversity Strategy
(PEBLDS), about the importance of
genetic diversity in sustainable
forest management in Europe, was
also emphasized. Network
members were encouraged to
establish contact with their country
representatives involved in these
processes and to ensure regular
information exchange.
The first set of Technical
Guidelines was presented on
Picea abies, Pinus pinaster, Pinus
brutia/halepensis, and Taxus
baccata. These are a useful tool
for those involved in conserving
valuable seed sources or using
the species in practical forestry.
The focus is on conserving
genetic diversity of the species at
the European level. Similar
guidelines on Abies alba will soon
be completed and added to this
module, and during the next year,
five new species modules will be
developed (Pinus sylvestris, Pinus
nigra, Pinus cembra, Larix
decidua, Juniperus communis).
Network members from the
countries concerned took the
responsibility for developing
additional modules for other
species, such as Pinus pinea and
Pinus leucodermis/heildreichii.
Updates on research were
presented, including a review of
recent studies on the use of
neutral molecular markers to
assess genetic variability. This is a
relevant approach in designing
Third Conifers Network meeting
Conifer woodland, Southern Italy (Photo: Michele Bozzano)
conservation strategies but is of
little value in understanding
adaptability patterns. New types
of molecular markers are being
developed for Norway spruce, as
well as Pinus pinaster and Pinus
halepensis, which have great
potential in the study of adaptive
traits. It was argued that both
neutral and adaptive approaches
are necessary, since in response
to environmental changes,
populations will either migrate
and/or adapt, and knowledge of
both mechanisms is needed for
gene
conservation
strategies.
A case
study on
Picea abies,
as the
selected
pilot
species,
was
presented,
including a
distribution
map
compiled
with the first
geo-
referenced
in situ gene
conservation
units for this
species.
The imple-
mentation
and
development
 of this
work will be
finalized in
 the next
few months.
Discussions highlighted the
importance of this work for
coordinating, harmonizing and
sharing conservation
responsibilities in Europe.
The importance of producing a
publication after every meeting
was highlighted. It was agreed
that the scope and style of these
reports be changed to focus on a
specific theme of the meeting
associated with the location or
country in which the meeting
takes place.
Part of the meeting was hosted at
the Kostrzyca Forest Genebank
(see Issue 23 page 6). The
Genebank is located in one of the
most damaged areas of Polish
forest, caused by industrial air
pollution - a significant problem in
central Europe - and the
evacuation initiatives undertaken
were also the main theme of
several seminars given by local
scientists, forest managers and
Network members. In the
framework of the new “meeting
output” a publication will be
developed on this subject.
The Network members also
recognized the need to strengthen
its focus on Mediterranean Conifer
species. Gene conservation of
these species will be addressed
specifically at a future Network
meeting. The next Network
meeting will be held in the UK in
September 2003.
A full report of this meeting is
available from IPGRI Regional
Office for Europe
www.ipgri.cgiar.org/publications/
indexpub.htm.
http://www.ipgr i.cgiar.org/networks/euforgen/euf_home.htmEUFORGEN
IPGRI Newsletter for Europe7
Run up to the "Living Forest Summit"
Participants of the Ministerial
Conferences on the Protection of
Forests in Europe (MCPFE)
recently gathered at the Expert
Level Meeting, 7-8 October 2002,
in Vienna, Austria. Discussions
centred on the development of
draft documents for the Fourth
Conference – the “Living Forest
Summit” to be convened 28 - 30
April 2003, also in Vienna, to be
chaired jointly by Austria and
Poland. As one of the last MCPFE
Expert Level Meetings to take
place before the Conference,
delegates from 34 European
countries, the European
Commission and 15 MCPFE
observer organizations focused
on the content of the Vienna
Declaration – a political statement
to be adopted by the Ministers
responsible for forests during the
Conference. The Expert Level
Meetings, mostly attended by
international forest policy
coordinators from the participating
countries, are a principal tool in
the MCPFE preparatory process.
Delegates reaffirmed the
importance of the Vienna
Declaration as a strong political
signal to be given by the
European ministers responsible
for forests. The Declaration
should address global challenges,
the role of forests and the tasks of
MCPFE in this context.
Furthermore, cross-sectoral
issues, such as promoting the use
of wood as well as forest research
were highlighted as important
issues to be addressed in the
Declaration.
Other special items for the
“Living Forest Summit”, including
forest biological diversity,
economically viable forest
management, climate change as
well as the cultural dimension of
sustainable forest management in
Europe, were also discussed in
detail. Participants adopted the
MCPFE Approach to National
Forest Programmes and
underlined the relevance of
national forest programmes and
inter-sectoral cooperation for the
Ministerial Conference.
Two other chapters of the
MCPFE work were also completed
with the adoption of the MCPFE
assessment guidelines for
protected and protective forest,
as well as the improved pan-
European indicators for
sustainable forest management.
These two important policy
instruments now await
endorsement at the forthcoming
Conference in April.
The adopted set of pan-
European indicators includes one
indicator specifically referring to
genetic diversity in forests:
Indicator 4.6 “Genetic resources:
area managed for conservation
and utilization of forest tree
genetic resources (in situ and ex
situ gene conservation) and area
managed for seed production”. In
contrast to previous versions of
pan-European indicators, this new
definition recognizes the specific
role of in situ and ex situ gene
conservation units within the
sustainable forest management
framework. Adopted at the First
Ministerial Conference in 1990,
Strasbourg Resolution S2 called
for the promotion and coordination
of the conservation of the genetic
diversity in European forests.
Building upon the international
follow up in this area, a document
was introduced during the MCPFE
Expert Level Meeting to highlight
genetically sustainable forest
management practices as part of
the challenges to be addressed by
the Living Forest Summit. This
document was submitted to
MCPFE by the EUFORGEN
Steering Committee (see Issue
24) and defines the new role of
European collaboration on forest
genetic resources “to tie the island
of gene conservation to the
continent of sustainable forest
management”.
The status of the documents
and their dynamics will be clarified
in the further preparatory process
leading up to the Conference. For
more information visit
www.mcpfe.org.
The International Union of Forest
Research Organizations
(IUFRO) is a non-profit, non-
governmental international
network of forest research
organizations. Its objectives are
to promote international
cooperation in forestry and
forest product research.
IUFRO’s activities are organized
primarily through its 274
specialized
working parties
and other units
within eight
thematic
divisions.
IUFRO was
established in
1892 as a
coordinating
and promoting
body for applied forest research
in Central Europe. The initial
targets and work programmes
arose from the need to
standardize research, its
conditions and experiments in
order to make methods and
results comparable.
To mark the occasion of the
Union’s 110th anniversary, a one
day symposium took place 9
October 2002, at the new
IUFRO offices based at the
Austrian Federal Office and
Research Centre for Forests
Mariabrunn, in Vienna. Entitled
“Forest Research – Challenges
and Concepts in a Changing
World”, the Symposium aimed at
developing concepts that
contribute to solving pending
issues in forestry and related
fields. The interface between
research and policy, economy
and legislation was addressed in
a number of presentations.
The
Symposium
was
successful in
identifying the
challenges
and
increasing
demands on
forest
research
work in response to global
climate and socioeconomic
changes. The event was
attended by a number of IUFRO
scientific officers involved in the
thematic divisions from all over
the world.
The Global Forest Information
System (GFIS), developed by
the IUFRO Secretariat to
enhance access to and
provision of quality forest-related
information, was presented. The
system is now available on the
web at: www.iufro-gfis.net.
IUFRO celebrates 110
th
anniversary
1 Kg chestnuts
800 g sugar
NB: The fruit is weighed after
cooking/mashing
● Put the chestnuts in
boiling water and leave for
20 minutes.
● Drain chesnuts, cut into
halves and mash into
another saucepan.
● Once mashed, weigh the
purée and calculate the
sugar required accordingly
(1 Kg chestnut purée = 800
g sugar).
● Mix the sugar with a small
amount of water in a
separate pot, heat up until
it melts.
● Add sugar mixture to the
purée, cooking over a low
temperature, stirring
continuously for half-an-
hour.
● Cool before serving.
Recipe:
Chestnut Jam
Photo: M
ichele Bozzano
IPGRI Newsletter for Europe8
achieve the goals of this
Strategy, an Action Plan has
been developed for
implementation over the next ten
years. This includes the creation
of an Ecological Network,
focusing on the protection of
forest ecosystems, structured
into four areas: legislative and
institutional framework; territorial
planning and biodiversity
conservation and restoration;
research and monitoring; and
information and education.
The total estimated cost of the
ten year Action Plan is US$18.7
million, including about US$3.5
million to support urgent
activities. Possible sources of
financing include the state
budget, subventions of different
institutions and organizations,
national and local environmental
funds etc. Assistance from
international donors and other
organizations is also anticipated
for specific activities. The
Central State Environmental
Authority has overall
responsibility for implementing
the Plan and will specify annual
activities and financial needs.
A major focus of the Action Plan
is the further development of the
legal basis for regulating
activities in all sectors of the
national economy. It is especially
important at this stage in
transition to a market economy,
that the new laws incorporate the
needs of environmental
protection and biodiversity
conservation in all the sectors of
social and economic system.
Launch of the Global Conservation Trust
Policy frameworks for biodiversity conservation in Moldova
Mr B. Fusilli
PGR Policy Intern, IPGRI
Located near the Carpathian
Mountains, the Black Sea and
East European Plain, Moldova
boasts optimal conditions for a
high level of biodiversity.
Distributed between five natural
landscapes, this diversity
ranges from the forest steppe in
the Northeast with extensive
oak forests, willow valleys, and
poplar meadows, to the
Mediterranean grasslands
covering extensive plains in the
South.
Sadly, this extensive diversity is
being negatively affected by
ecosystem pollution and other
human activities. The
unsustainable use of the land
and its natural resources,
including soil erosion, intensive
agriculture and irrigation, has
had an adverse impact,
particularly affecting the steppe
zone in the southern part of the
country.  The Ministry of
Ecology, Construction and
Territorial Development is
primarily responsible for policy
and action on the conservation
of biodiversity in Moldova. The
State Forestry Service and the
Ministry of Agriculture and Food
Industry are responsible for
nature protection and
conservation in the respective
areas. Cooperation between
these and other State
Organizations have enabled the
development of laws ensuring
the conservation and rational
use of natural resources, such
as the Law on Natural
Resources, No. 1102-XIII - 6
February 1997 and the Law on
the Protection of Plant Varieties,
No. 85 - October 1999. These
are helping to provide a new legal
framework to safeguard the
environment.
As yet, a national management
and sustainable development
plan for agriculture and forestry
to enable adequate transition to
the market economy, has not
been adopted. The current
actions and programmes in the
national economy sectors often
do not comply with strategic
principles and criteria of
biodiversity conservation and
sustainable development.
Investigative research on
biodiversity is being undertaken
around the country by scientific
institutions of the Academy of
Sciences, universities, other
institutions and scientific centres
of the different Ministries.
Monitoring activities are also
underway in independent fields
such as botany, zoology,
microbiology and it is hoped that
these will be integrated in the
future.
In recent years, a National
Strategy has been developed by
inputs from the formal and
informal sectors to save
ecosystems and species of
major importance for future
generations through management
of natural resources and
sustainable development of social
and economic systems. To
On 29 August 2002, midway
through the World Summit on
Sustainable Development (WSSD),
the CGIAR and FAO announced
plans to establish the Global
Conservation Trust. The
announcement followed on the
heels of the release of a report,
”Crop Diversity at Risk: The Case
for Sustaining Crop Collections”,
by Imperial College, London. The
report drew largely on information
gathered by FAO in 2000 from
around 100 countries. Its findings
were alarming: not only is crop
diversity disappearing from the
fields, a large proportion of the
crop resources ‘safeguarded’ in
genebanks around the world could
soon be lost due to lack of funding.
The report found that while the
number of samples held in crop
collections has increased in 66%
of countries since 1996 (the last
time FAO gathered such data),
genebank budgets have been
reduced in 25% of countries and
have remained static in another
35%. The Imperial College report
recommended the establishment
of a global endowment fund for ex
situ conservation as the best way
to ensure humanity’s ability to
meet the long-term nature of its
conservation needs.
With nine venues, a reported
60 000 delegates and hundreds of
side events all clamouring for
attention during the WSSD, there
was concern that the
announcement of plans for the
Global Conservation Trust might
not receive much attention.
Fortunately that was not the case.
Indeed, the event— held at the
IUCN Environment Centre—was
very well attended. Former CGIAR
Chair Ismail Serageldin, World
Food Prize Laureate M.S.
Swaminathan, Geoffrey Hawtin,
Director- General of IPGRI and
Chris Higgins, of Imperial College
described the new findings and
announced the intention to
establish the Trust early next
year.
Important statements of
commitment and support followed
from Mamdouh Riad Tadros,
Egyptian Minister of the
Environment; Ambassador Walter
Fust, Director-General of the
Swiss Agency for Development
and Cooperation, Andrew Natsios,
Administrator of the US Agency
for International Development, and
Senator Tim Wirth, President of
the United Nations Foundation.
Media coverage of the 29
August event included stories in
The Economist, Time magazine,
International Herald Tribune, The
Guardian, Science, Nature, and
La Stampa.  Wire and news
agencies from around the world
carried the story, including the
Associated Press, Reuters,
Agence France Presse, AFX,
Bernama (Malaysia), Inter Press
Service, the Panafrican News
Agency, the South African Press
Association, and the Environment
News Service.  Online coverage
included original articles on
FinancialTimes.com, BBC News,
and both Science and New
Scientist magazines’ online news
services. Additional stories have
been tracked across six
continents— Africa, Asia,
Australia, Europe, North America,
and South America, — and in nine
languages so far— Afrikaans,
Chinese, Dutch, English, French,
German, Italian, Portuguese and
Spanish.
Please visit the website of the
Global Conservation Trust at
www.startwithaseed.org for a
discussion paper describing a
number of outstanding issues
regarding the future governance
of the Trust
(www.startwithaseed.org/pages/
governance.htm).
For more information contact
the Trust directly at
info@startwithaseed.org.
IPGRI Newsletter for Europe9
The EU funded Gen Res project
(104), aimed at improving the
access and utilisation of barley
germplasm in Europe, drew to a
close in September 2002. The
three and a half year project
began in April 1999 involving 28
partners, including breeders,
genebanks and public research
institutions. An additional seven
partners from non-EU countries
joined the project in 2001 for the
final phase with financial support
from ECP/GR.
Achievements of the project
include the extension of the
European Barley Database (http://
barley.ipk-gatersleben.de/ebdb/)
which now holds data for more
than 155 000 accessions from 40
genebanks and includes data from
three collections outside Europe,
specifically from the International
Center for Agricultural Research
in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), Syria,
the Australian Winter Cereals
Collection, Tamworth, and the
Barley Germplasm Center,
Okayama University, Japan. The
International Barley Core
Collection (BCC), which has
undergone evaluation and
currently holds 1126 accessions,
was also included. The BCC was
established in 1989 as part of an
ECP/GR initiative.
An information system for
barley was developed with
assistance from the Nordic Gene
Bank during a six months cost-
neutral extension of the project.
Although initially biotic stress data
generated by the project were
integrated into the system,
development of the data
structures in parallel with the
IPGRI Descriptor List for Barley
now allow the addition of further
characterization and evaluation
data sets. The emphasis of the
passport data was upon improving
geo-referencing, standardising
accession names according to
published cultivar inventories, and
compiling synonymous accession
numbers.
Important sets of germplasm
from historic collecting missions
which were previously
inaccessible in some collections
due to a lack of documentation
detail have now been linked either
The aim of this future Workshop
is to facilitate exchange of
information and experience in
developing national programmes
and to identify solutions for
common challenges at a national
level.
Following the first announcement
published in the last issue of this
Newsletter (24), the selection
and identification of participants
has been made in close
collaboration with the ECP/GR
National Coordinators, ensuring
a balanced representation of
different stakeholder groups.
Over 80 people expressed their
interest to participate by
completing the pre-registration
form. Up to three persons from
each European country will
attend the workshop, bringing
the total number of participants
to approximately 150.
An introductory presentation will
be delivered by Roland von
Bothmer, Swedish University of
Agricultural Sciences, followed
by a general policy presentation
and three keynote presentations
– case studies on national
programmes from Brazil,
Canada and France.
The Workshop will be conducted
in small working groups, each
dealing with specific topics or
issues raised by the participants.
The main benefit of this
approach, known as Open
Space Technology (OST), is that
it supports active participation in
the identification and discussion
of common issues. This
approach will lead to a series of
recommendations developed
and adopted during the
workshop. The Workshop will
therefore provide an input to the
ECP/GR Steering Committee
meeting, which will be held in
October 2003.
For information about the
workshop visit:
www.ipgri.cgiar.org/regions/
europe/Introduction/
NP_conference2003.htm.
via collecting, donor
and synonymous
numbers or on the
basis of other
information. For
example, this includes
material from the
German expeditions to
Ethiopia in 1937/1938
and Tibet in 1938/39,
and expeditions to
Nepal in 1971, Pakistan
in 1974 and India 1976,
organised by the
University of Bangor,
Wales.
A significant
Hordeum vulgare ssp.
spontaneum collection
held at the John Innes
Institute, UK was
documented in detail
and linked with disease
evaluation data, thus
allowing the
identification of
locations with higher frequencies
of resistance genes. This finding
has significantly enhanced the
value of this material for plant
breeding and research. Many
other promising accessions were
also identified during the project as
a result of coordinated evaluation
against biotic stress factors,
undertaken using standardised
methods identifying single gene,
and the more stable partial
resistances.
The database now also
enables the identification of
duplicates which is a task to be
shared amongst European barley
collections. This activity will be
negotiated by the ECP/GR
Working Group on Barley. Other
significant conclusions include:
• The need for a follow-up
project focusing on the
development of pre-breeding
material from promising wild
and non-adapted germplasm;
• future evaluation requires
close coordination with parallel
initiatives, particularly the
current monitoring of fungal
disease virulence in
continuation of the EU funded
COST 817 action;
• coordinated public activities at
the European level require
further financial support by the
European Commission since
most existing programmes
focus on national and private
interests; and
• the European barley database
is now in a good position to be
linked with barley inventories
from other continents as a
depository for public data on
barley genetic resources.
The project brought together
European breeding firms, public
research institutes and genebanks
in a joint effort on coordinated
evaluation activities. Breeders
participating in the project have
already benefited by selecting
interesting material to be included
in their crossing programmes. The
ECP/GR European Barley
Database hosted by the Institut für
Pflanzengenetik und
Kulturpflanzenforschung (IPK)
Gatersleben has made significant
progress. Many participants
expressed their interest in a
continuation of this cooperation.
For more information contact Dirk
Enneking (enneking@ipk-
gatersleben.de) or Helmut
Knüpffer (knupffer@ipk-
gatersleben.de).
Dr D. Enneking & Dr H. Knüpffer
Institut für Pflanzengenetik und
Kulturpflanzenforschung (IPK),
Gatersleben, Germany
Gen Res Barley project successfully completed
European Workshop
on National PGR
Programmes
24-26 April 2003
Alnarp, Sweden
Photo: Dirk Enneking
IPGRI Newsletter for Europe10
GENE-MINE: mining information in molecular marker data
In the context of the work
undertaken by this Unit,
underutilized species (both plant
and animal) are those with an
unexploited potential, which can
contribute to food security and
poverty alleviation. Examples of
such species include hulled
wheats in the Eurasian region,
Pili nut in the Philippines, Quinoa
in the Andean region, many
traditional African vegetables, the
grasscutter or cane rat in West
Africa and the I-pig in Vietnam.
These species tend to be
neglected by research,
extension services, farmers,
policy and decision-makers,
donors, technology providers,
consumers and socio-cultural
practices. Many of them were
once more widely used than they
are today but have fallen into
disuse for a variety of
agronomic, economic, genetic
and cultural reasons. This is
endangering the existence of
these species and the genetic
base for future crop and animal
breed improvement.
The Global Facilitation Unit for
Underutilized Species is a multi-
stakeholder initiative established
Dr Th.J.L. van Hintum
Centre for Genetic Resources,
The Netherlands (CGN)
Wageningen, The Netherlands
The EU-funded project entitled
“Improved use of germplasm
collections with the aid of novel
methodologies for integration,
analysis and presentation of
genetic data sets” (GENE-MINE)
is moving ahead despite facing
complex challenges.
GENE-MINE is based on the
fact that new molecular tools for
characterizing germplasm are
increasingly available, whereas
the tools to handle these data are
currently lacking. The specific
properties of molecular marker
data sets require new
approaches. For example, a
standard diversity analysis of a
typical molecular marker data set
would result in complex
dendrograms with thousands of
nodes, making interpretation
highly complex. If many markers
are observed, they are probably
linked, making it possible to
improve estimates of genetic
distance based on the map
positions of the markers. The
linkage of molecular markers to
specific phenotypic traits allows
for prediction of the map position
of these traits via associative
mapping. On a more practical
level, clarification is needed on:
when an accession should be
considered redundant in a
collection; the minimum number of
plants and accessions that should
be characterised, and the optimal
way to interpret results in terms of
intra- and inter- accession
variation and sampling errors.
The project was initiated in
December 2000 under the
coordination of Ritsert Jansen at
Plant Research International in
Wageningen. After accepting a
position as Professor in
Bioinformatics, Ritsert left the
project in early 2002 and was
replaced by Hans Sandbrink, also
at Plant Research International.
Sadly, Hans died unexpectedly
during a holiday in the USA in
summer 2002. As well as being a
respected molecular biologist and
bioinformatician, Hans was a
remarkable, nice and loveable
man. He is deeply missed.
Theo van Hintum of the Centre
for Genetic Resources, The
Netherlands (CGN) is now the
new coordinator of the project.
Since GENE-MINE started, the
project partners have been very
active, establishing a database
structure, a germplasm query
language, analysis methods,
visualisation tools, and germplasm
simulation software. On the
genebank side of the project,
extensive work has also been
undertaken on wild lettuce as a
bioinformatics case study,
including the collection of material,
the compilation of a database and
a descriptor list, and the
distribution of a questionnaire. The
main challenge is to integrate all
these activities into one coherent
project. The first step in the
integration process was a meeting
at IPGRI, Rome, Italy in
September 2002, enabling all
partners to report back on their
achievements and challenges
encountered. This provided an
excellent overview of the current
status of GENE-MINE, with its
strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities and problems. The
second step was the launch of a
new GENE-MINE website
(www.GENE-MINE.org). At this
site the project is presented as an
integrated activity with a
transparent style. The site will
contain demonstrations of the
tools created within the project
once they are at a relevant stage
of development.
During the second part of the
three and a half year project, the
methods will be further developed.
This will provide the genebank
community with new tools to
analyse their collections, using
both the molecular and traditional
genebank data. The aim is also to
integrate the tools into a software
package. This GENE-MINE
package will be easy to install in
any genebank needing to store
and analyse molecular marker
data sets, visualise the results
and draw conclusions. These
conclusions will support a more
efficient management of the
germplasm conserved, but most
of all, they will make it easier to
mine the gold hidden in the
collections! More information is
available from the project
coordinator Theo van Hintum:
(Th.J.L.vanHintum@plant.wag-
ur.nl).
in June 2002 under the umbrella
of the Global Forum on
Agricultural Research (GFAR)
and currently hosted by IPGRI,
Rome, Italy. The Unit supports
and facilitates the work on
different aspects of underutilized
species at different levels by
networks, organizations,
agencies and others around the
world. The initiative aims at
strengthening these
stakeholders and encouraging
new commitments for the
development of underutilized
species. These species should
fulfill some of the following
criteria:
•  Low external inputs for
production required;
• suitable for organic
production;
• suitable for cultivation on
marginal land (low soil fertility,
etc.);
• suitable to stabilize fragile
ecosystems;
• fit into smallholders’ farming
systems;
• possess traditional, local and/
or regional importance;
• easy to store and process by
resource poor communities;
• market opportunities
available;
• possess high nutritional and/
or medicinal value; and
• offer multi-purpose uses.
Initially the Unit is concentrating
on stakeholders working with
plant species. The main activities
of the GFU include:
• Providing improved access to
information (making use of
traditional and modern
media);
• creating a platform for
discussion of concepts,
strategies and instruments to
promote and
facilitate the sustainable use
of underutilized species;
• facilitating stakeholders’
access to financial
resources; and
• developing a self-sustaining
mechanism to support work
on underutilized species.
More information is available
from Irmgard Hoeschle-Zeledon,
IPGRI (i.zeledon@cgiar.org).
Global Facilitation Unit for Underutilized Species
IPGRI Newsletter for Europe11
Recipe:
Traditional
Christmas Pudding
4 tbsp softened, butter
1/2 cup superfine sugar
3 tbsp brandy
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Combine all the ingredients in
a bowl and beat with an
electric beater until smooth
and well blended. Refrigerate
at least 4 hours or until firm.
Brandy Butter
110 g shredded suet
50 g self raising flour
110 g breadcrumbs
1 teaspoon mixed spice
¼ teaspoon grated nutmeg
pinch ground cinnamon
225 g soft brown sugar
110 g sultanas
110 g raisins
275 g currants
25 g blanched, chopped
almonds
25 g finely chopped, mixed
(candied) peel
small apple, peeled and finely
chopped
grated zest of half a large
orange and half a large lemon
2 eggs
2 tbsp rum
75 ml barley wine
75 ml stout
1) Mix the suet, breadcrumbs,
spices and sugar in a bowl.
2) Gradually add the dried
fruit, peel and nuts and
then the apple and the
orange and lemon rind.
3) Beat the eggs in a
separate bowl and mix in
the rum, barley wine and
stout. Pour this into the dry
ingredients stirring very
hard and mix well.
 4) Cover the bowl with a cloth
and leave overnight.
5) Grease 1.2 litre pudding
basin and fill to the top with
the mixture. Cover with
square greaseproof paper
with pudding cloth on top.
6) Steam for 8 hours. Once
cooled, remove and
replace paper and cloth.
7) Store in a clean dry place
and when ready to eat,
steam for 2 hours. Serve
with brandy butter.
IPGRI’s Regional Office for Europe is collecting information on funding agencies with the goal of increasing
accessibility to Europe-based funding opportunities for plant genetic resources conservation activities in
the region and worldwide. Please find below an updated list of opportunities, further to the list published in
Issue 23. The full list of collected funding opportunities will be available through a database at IPGRI’s web
site. We would very much welcome feedback and input.
Disclaimer: IPGRI is not responsible for technical inaccuracies. Please contact the specific information
provider directly with any queries.
Alliances for Voluntary Initiatives and Development (ALLAVIDA)
ALLAVIDA is a new international non-profit organization that brings together grant-making, training and
capacity building, research and publishing. ALLAVIDA aims at providing resources - funding, skills and
information – required by people and organizations working for the development of their communities. This
includes long-term capacity building and intensive training programmes aimed at enabling groups to serve
their chosen constituency or community more effectively. Priorities include informal, grass-roots, voluntary
associations which contribute towards a pluralistic and healthy society, providing services to vulnerable
people and adding value to the efforts of government in this regard.
Further information: www.allavida.org
Biodiversity Conservation Centre (BCC)
(BCC) is a non-profit, non-governmental organization dedicated to promoting the protection of wild nature
throughout the former Soviet Union. This includes missions to help other conservation groups by providing
information and expertise; facilitating cooperation between Russian conservationists and international
partners; supporting nature reserves, national parks, and other types of protected natural areas; and
developing techniques of fundraising for nature protection.
 Further Information:  www.biodiversity.ru/eng/
European Forest Institute (EFI)
Mission to promote, conduct and cooperate on, research of forests, forestry and forest products at pan-
European level, and to make research results known, notably in the areas of policy formulation and
implementation, to promote the conservation and sustainable management of forests in Europe. Finances
scholarships and training. Research programmes: Forest ecology and management; forest products
markets and socioeconomics; policy analysis; and forest resources and information.
Further Information: www.efi.fi/research/project_proposal_format.html
Trust for Mutual Understanding
Promotes communication, cooperation, and greater respect between the people of the US, the Russian
Federation, and other countries in Eastern and Central Europe. Areas of priority: biodiversity; environment
conservation; international cooperation; public awareness on environmental issues; and capacity building of
local and national organisations.
Further information: www.tmuny.org
The Whitley Laing Foundation
The Whitley Laing Foundation offers a wide range of awards for nature conservation projects worldwide.
These projects share the aim of promoting the benefits of wildlife and habitat conservation to the local
communities in which the projects are based. The Foundation also seeks to raise public awareness on
serious problems facing ecosystems. The limited funding available is focused on projects outside the first
world.
Further Information: www.whitley-award.org/index.html
XminY Solidariteitsfonds
XminusY Solidarity Fund is an independent funding organization in the Netherlands. By providing social
movements and small-scale initiatives all over the world with financial support, XminusY strives for a world
based on more than just economical, political and social relations. Support helps groups and organisations
in the South and in Eastern Europe to set up programmes aimed at social justice and political self-
determination. Organizations supported often exists against all odds and are not only financially but also
morally supported.
Further Information: www.xminy.nl
Information on funding opportunities
Commission
members
expressed
concern that
the inappro-
priate
granting of patents might
undermine confidence in the “in
trust” collections, even though
the genetic materials in this case
were collected in Mexico, and
(Continued
from page 1)
not obtained from the CGIAR (or
under an MTA).
A presentation by Geoffrey
Hawtin, IPGRI DG, explained the
joint efforts of FAO and the
CGIAR to establish the Global
Conservation Trust (see page
8). The objective of the Trust is
to provide, in perpetuity, a flow of
funds for ex situ conservation.
The Commission concluded that
“this initiative was universally
appreciated and supported,” and
it appealed to donors “to assist in
the establishment of the Trust.”
The Commission noted the
importance of transparency and
efficiency in the governance of
the Trust, and to enunciate the
understanding that “overall policy
guidance to the Trust would
come from the Governing Body
of the Treaty.” More information
on the FAO Commission is
available from http://
icppgr.ecoport.org/default.html.
(Credit: Delia Smith, BBC W
orldwide Publishing)
FAO Commission recommends interim MTA
ECP/GR Flax Genetic
Resources in Europe. L.
Maggioni, M. Pavelek, L.J.M. van
Soest & E. Lipman (compilers).
Ad hoc meeting, 7-8 December
2001, Prague, Czech Republic.
IPGRI, Rome, Italy.
ECP/GR Report of a Working
Group on Grain Legumes - Third
meeting. L. Maggioni, M.
Ambrose, R. Schachl, G. Duc &
E. Lipman (compilers). 5-7 July
2001, Kraków, Poland. IPGRI,
Rome, Italy.
EUFORGEN Noble Hardwoods
Network: Report of the 4th & 5th
Meetings. J.Turok, G. Eriksson,
K. Russel & S. Borelli
(compilers). 4-6 September
1999, Gmunden, Austria and 17-
19 May 2001, Blessington,
Ireland. IPGRI, Rome, Italy.
Managing crop diversity in
traditional agroecosystems
(Symposium Proceedings).
Arias-Reyes, D.I. Jarvis, J.
Tuxill, D. Lope-Alzina & C.
Eyzaguirre. 13-16 February
2002, Merida, Mexico. IPGRI,
Rome, Italy. 84 pages.
Global research on underutilized
crops. An assessment of current
activities and proposals for
enhanced cooperation. 2002.
J.T. Williams & N. Haq. IPGRI,
Rome, Italy. 46 pages.
Neglected leafy green
vegetables crops in Africa. Vol.
2. Bibliography of the genetic
resources of traditional African
vegetables. 2002. N.M. Mnzava,
Forthcoming Meetings
Jozef Turok
Regional Director &
EUFORGEN Coordinator
Tel: 39-066118250
Email:j.turok@cgiar.org
Michele Bozzano
Temporary Scientific Assistant
Tel: 39-066118221
Email: m.bozzano@cgiar.org
Muriel Colas
Programme Assistant
Tel: 39-066118229
Email:m.colas@cgiar.org
Lidwina Koop
Programme Assistant
Tel: 39-066118251
Email:l.koop@cgiar.org
Brigitte Laliberté
Programme Specialist
Crop Genetic Resources
Tel: 39-066118244
Email:b.laliberte@cgiar.org
Elinor Lipman*
Scientific Assistant
Tel: 33-467611302
Email:e.lipman@cgiar.org
Lorenzo Maggioni
ECP/GR Coordinator
Tel: 39-066118231
Email:l.maggioni@cgiar.org
Olga Spellman*
(on maternity leave)
Programme Assistant
Tel: 39-066118411
Email:o.spellman@cgiar.org
(*part time)
Editing & Layout by
Helen Malherbe
Freelance Editor & Consultant
Email:Lherbe@global.co.za
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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
This newsletter is
produced by the
staff of the
Regional Office
for Europe
11-15 January 2003
Genomics – Annual Meeting &
Plant and Animal Genome XI
Conference.
San Diego, California, USA
www.pierroton.inra.fr/genetics/
Perso/Christophe
3-7 February 2003
Third World Congress on
Medicinal and Aromatic Plants
for Human Welfare.
Chiang Mai, Thailand
www.wocmap3.org
9-14 February 2003
Gordon Conference on
Quantitative Genetics and
Genomics.
Ventura, California, USA
http://nitro.biosci.arizona.edu/
Gordon2003.html
27-28 February 2003
High Throughput Genotyping -
11th AgroGene Seminar.
Paris, France
info.ag@agrogene.com
www.agrogene.com
19-21 March 2003
EUCARPIA Leafy Vegetables
Breeding and Genetics
Meeting.
Noordwijkerhout, The
Netherlands
info@leidscongresbureau.nl
www.leafyvegetables.nl
24-26 April 2003
European Workshop on
National Plant Genetic
Resources Programmes.
Alnarp,Sweden
www.ipgri.cgiar.org/regions/
europe/Introduction/
NP_conference2003.htm
18-22 May 2003
Third International Symposium
on Molecular Breeding of
Forage and Turf.
Dallas, Texas and Ardmore,
Oklahoma, USA
www.nonle.org/MBFT2003
19-23 May 2003
International Conference on
Rural Livelihoods, Forests and
Biodiversity.
Bonn, Germany
www.cifor.cgiar.org/
livelihoodconference.asp
20-23 May 2003
Second International Elm
Conference.
Valsaín, Spain
info@elmconference.com
www.elmconference.com
8-17 June 2003
IUFRO Conference: Uneven-
aged Forest Management:
Alternative Forms, Practices &
Constraints. Helsinki, Finland
www.metla.fi/tapahtumat/2003/
uneven-aged
3-5 July 2003
Botanic Garden Strategies in
Changing Economic Conditions.
Tartu, Estonia
www.bgci.org.uk/
congress_tartu_2003.html
20-26 July 2003
Tenth International
Conference on Composites
Engineering
ICCE/10 Conference.
New Orleans, USA
www.uno.edu/~engr/composite
26-30 July 2003
Potatoes. EAPR and
EUCARPIA Joint Meeting:
”Varietal assessment and
adaptation”. Oulu, Finland
jbrads@scri.sari.ac.uk
www.siemenperunakeskus.fi/
eapr/index.html
1-4 September 2003
25th EUCARPIA Fodder Crops
and Amenity Grasses Section
meeting &  15th EUCARPIA
Medicago spp. Group Meeting.
Brno, Czech Republic
eucarpia@vupt.cz
www.vupt.cz
20-25 October 2003
ISTA Forest Tree and Shrub
Seed Committee Workshop.
Prague, Czech Republic
prochazkova@vulhmuh.cz
New Publications
J.A. Dearing, L. Guarino, & J.A.
Chweya (compilers). H. de
Koeijer (ed). 110 pages.
IPGRI publications available online at:
www.ipgri.cgiar.org/publications/indexpub.htm
BOOKS
Allium Crop Science: Recent
Advances. 2002. H.D.
Rabinowitch & L. Currah (Eds).
CABI publishing. 527 pages.
The Alliums are some of the
most ancient cultivated crops
and include onions, garlic, leeks.
The aim of this book is to bring
together in a single volume, up-
to-date knowledge obtained by a
variety of scientific disciplines,
from the basic molecular level, to
application in the field, of the
Allium crops.
The book contains
commissioned chapters on
topics that have shown major
advances particularly in the last
ten years such as molecular
biology, floriculture and
agronomy.
An introduction to Forest
Genetics.  2001. G. Eriksson & I.
Ekberg.  Genetic Center
Swedish Univ. of Agricultural
Sciences.
 A comprehensive textbook for
undergraduate and graduate
students.  Updated and modified
edition of the Swedish original,
the book offers an introduction to
evolutionary theory population
and quantitative genetics, with a
wide range of examples from the
tree improvement, gene
conservation and plant
production practice. It includes a
glossary of terms.