New European Commission publication on genetic resources
The European Commission (EC) has released a new publication summarizing the achievements of the 17 projects that were implemented in 2006-2011 with financial support from the Community Programme on genetic resources in agriculture. The projects involved 180 partners in 25 Member States and 12 non-EU countries with a total budget of EUR 8.9 million. Of the 17 projects, five focused on farm animals, three on arable crop and cereals, eight on fruits, vegetables and spices, and only one on forest trees.
According to the EC, the sustainable management of genetic resources is a key contribution to reaching the objectives of the EU Biodiversity Strategy towards 2020, in line with the commitments under the Convention on Biological Diversity and of the UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO). The achievements of these projects form the basis for further actions, but it is not known yet whether the EC will continue this work through a similar programme.
The electronic version of the publication is available on the EC Directorate General for Agriculture and Rural Development website. Hard copies of the publication can also be requested from the same website.
