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Spain recently approved a Royal Decree on the conservation of forest genetic resources and wild flora, which establishes basic rules on conservation and sustainable use of forest genetic resources (FGR).

The new decree includes the preparation and approval of a National Plan for the Conservation of Forest Genetic Resources, to be carried out by the Directorate General of Biodiversity, Forests and Desertification with other stakeholders.

The plan will establish goals and objectives, giving priority to actions necessary to establish the network of genetic conservation units for forest species. The plan will include a specific section for the conservation of genetic resources of at-risk marginal or peripheral populations.

“This is the first time that Spain has developed legislation on this matter,” said Felipe Pérez Martín, Spanish National Coordinator for EUFORGEN. “It is necessary in order to guarantee legal status to GCUs in order to comply with their management plans and monitoring.”

In situ conservation of FGR will be achieved mainly in genetic conservation units (GCUs), designed to maintain intraspecific genetic variation and the evolutionary dynamics of the species in its area of distribution. An annex to the law lists 62 forest species for which GCUs must be defined. These GCUs will be approved by the autonomous communities in whose territory they are located, and once approved must be included in the National Register and Catalogue of GCUs.

“The GCUs approved under this rule will be part of a national network,” Pérez Martín explained, “and will be also reporting to EUFGIS, as part of the European network of GCUs promoted by EUFORGEN.”

For ex situ conservation, the decree establishes a Forest Germplasm and Wild Flora National Bank and a Forest Germplasm and Wild Flora Network Bank.

The National Bank will be located in the Network of National Centres for Forest Genetic Resources of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge. It will be the preferential repository for a duplicate of all collections derived from the implementation of ex situ conservation actions framed in the National Plan for the Conservation of Forest Genetic Resources, except those being properly preserved in another facility. In addition, the National Bank will conserve material from protected flora, especially those in the Spanish Catalogue of Endangered Species. It will also offer technical support for the conservation of FGR and wild flora.

The Network Bank complements the National Bank as a tool for coordination and cooperation at the state level. It will facilitate access to information on germplasm of forest species and wild flora conserved ex situ and will promote synergy among its members and link them with other agents.

“We are now looking forward to the implementation of the Decree, which will help to secure Spain’s genetic resources for the future,” Pérez Martín said. “It will require an important effort of coordination with autonomous communities and other stakeholders.”