Farmer’s Pride is a European Union funded project involving a diverse range of stakeholders. They are building a collaborative network for on-site conservation and sustainable use of Europe’s plant diversity for food, nutrition and economic security throughout the region. They are currently running 2 surveys, and your participation is needed!

Establishing a European Network

To help establish a new European network of conservation sites and stakeholders, they are reaching out to identify individuals and organizations involved or with an interest in the conservation of wild and cultivated plant genetic resources (crop wild relatives and traditional local varieties, or landraces), whether in farms, gardens, allotment sites, protected and non-protected areas.

The survey is relevant to all stakeholders, including agro-NGOs, civil society organizations, farmers and gardeners, nature conservation NGOs, plant breeding/seed companies, policy-makers, protected area managers, research institutes, seed/gene banks, and any related networks or other relevant organizations.

Take the short stakeholder survey.

The survey is available in Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Spanish and Turkish.

Strengthening in situ conservation

The Farmer’s Pride project is also responding to a call for action to enhance and strengthen in situ conservation and sustainable use of plant genetic resources (PGR) in Europe. The focus of the project is on conserving the diversity that exists in both wild and cultivated populations of species important for food, nutrition and economic security in the region.

The European Network for In Situ Conservation and Sustainable Use of Plant Genetic Resources will comprise a network of both stakeholders and sites across Europe. It will establish a mechanism for coordinated action on PGR conservation in situ in the region, with a view to ensuring that the diversity needed for continual crop enhancement and adaptation is available for future use.

Take part in the survey which seeks to identify ‘in situ’ conservation action for crop wild relatives.

It is aimed at those involved in practical conservation of protected areas and wild plant populations in non-protected areas.

They are interested in active conservation (involving direct actions on the target species, such as monitoring, habitat improvement, herbivory control, etc.) as opposed to passive conservation (conferred by the mere presence of the species in a protected area). By gathering this information, we intend to obtain an overview of existing in situ crop wild relative conservation actions and to develop a network showcase that illustrates best practices and examples for their conservation in Europe.

For more information visit: http://www.farmerspride.eu/