Forest Genetic Diversity Building Knowledge – Implementing Priorities

Linda ColletteSecretary

Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture

Tree Diversity Day

Rio Conventions Pavilion, CBD COP12, 10th October 2014

PyeongChang, South Korea

1. FAO, its Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture and Biodiversity

2. The State of the World’s Forest Genetic Resources

3. The Global Plan of Action for the Conservation, Sustainable Use and Development of Forest Genetic Resources

Biodiversity @ FAO• FAO Global Goal 3

– Sustainable management and utilization of natural resources, including land, water, air, climate and genetic resources for the benefit of present and future generations

• Strategic Objective 2– Increase and improve provision of

goods and services from agriculture, forestry and fisheries in a sustainable manner

• Permanent bodies– Commission on Genetic Resources for Food

and Agriculture– Committee on World Food Security– International Treaty on PGRFA– International Plant Protection Convention

FAO integrates biodiversity

in the work to reach

global food security and

zero hunger

FAO and Aichi Biodiversity Targets

• Global Assessments• Global Plans of Action• Forest and Landscape Restoration

Mechanism• Sustainable Forest Management• Sustainable agriculture practices• Sustainable Fisheries• Sustainable Aquaculture

FAO biodiversity-related instruments

Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture

Animal breeds

• 8 300 animal breeds known• 8% are extinct and 22% are at risk of extinction

Trees• Over 80 000 tree species• Less than 1% have been studied for potential use

Fish • Provide 20% animal protein to about 3 billion people• Over 175 000 species of fish, mollusks, aquatic plants etc.• 10 species about 30% marine capture fisheries • 10 species about 50% aquaculture production

Plants • Over 80% of the human diet• 30 000 edible terrestrial plants • 7 000 are cultivated or collected• 5 cereal crops provide 60% energy intake

Micro-organisms and invertebrates• Key for ecosystem services• Contributions still poorly known and acknowledged

The knowledge – policy cycle

•National assessments•Resources assessments•Capacity assessments•Knowledge assessment

Country report

•State of resources, use, conservation, capacity

•Status and trends•Gaps and needs

State of the World •Priority actions

•Research needs•Partnerships

Global Plan of Action

•Knowledge creation•Indicators•Assessment of resources•Progress

Monitoring

Knowledge gaps and research needs are identified at each

stage of the “cycle”

Commission’s outputs

On-going

Aquatic Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture

Biodiversity for Food and Agriculture

19982007

2010

Global Plans of ActionState of the World Reports

2014

2014

2007

2011

1998

1. FAO, its Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture and Biodiversity

2. The State of the World’s Forest Genetic Resources

3. The Global Plan of Action for the Conservation, Sustainable Use and Development of Forest Genetic Resources

The State of the World’s Forest Genetic Resources

• Contributes to the FAO global assessments on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture

• Provides the information base for monitoring the status and trends of FGR

• Identifies needs and priorities for action

(FAO, 2014)

Coverage

A total of 86 country reports covering 85% of the world’s total global forest

Weighting the reasons for

species prioritization (2260 priority

species)

Economic

Socio-cultural

EnvironmentInvasiveness

Biodiversity2

0

0.5

1

World Africa Asia EuropeL. America Near East Pacific

Species prioritization

Most forest genetic resources are conserved in situ

Conservation of forest genetic resources

In situ conservation: the conservation of

ecosystems and natural habitats and the

maintenance and recovery of viable populations of species in their natural

surroundings

Ex situ conservation is limited due to high cost involvedGood examples: the Millennium Seed Bank Partnership 10% of the world’s wild plants in seed banks for long term conservation including tree seeds

Conservation of forest genetic resources

Ex situ conservation: the conservation of

components of biodiversity outside their natural

habitats, including FGR in planted forests, tree

breeding programmes, ex situ gene conservation

stands or field gene banks, seed and pollen banks, in

vitro storage and DNA storage

Other findings• Knowledge

– Insufficient and poorly managed knowledge and information on FGR

• Capacity– Insufficient institutional and

technical capacity to address FGR management needs (particularly in developing countries)

1. FAO, its Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture and Biodiversity

2. The State of the World Forest Genetic Resources

3. The Global Plan of Action for the Conservation, Sustainable Use and Development of Forest Genetic Resources

Global Plan of Action FGR• 4 Priority Areas

1. Improving the availability of, and access to, information on FGR

2. In situ and ex situ conservation of FGR3. Sustainable use, development and

management of FGR 4. Policies, institutions and capacity

building

• 27 Strategic Priorities

Global Plan of Action FGR• Global Plan of Action for the Conservation, Sustainable Use

and Development of Forest Genetic Resources

– Policy instrument negotiated by countries to address global FGR priorities

– Contributes directly to several Aichi Biodiversity Targets (5, 13, 14, 15)

Implementation Strategy for the GPA FGR

• Advocacy and International awareness

• National commitment:– National Action Plan – Mainstreaming FGR in relevant

programmes

• Collaboration and Partnership – national, regional international levels

• Support countries in securing Funding

• Monitoring and reporting on the implementation

– Feedback to FAO and Commission

Restoration and FGR• Restoring degraded ecosystems has become a global

priority (Aichi Target 15 and Bonn Challenge)

– FGR will play critical role in successful restoration and needs to be mainstreamed (SOW thematic study)

– FAO is supporting restoration through several major initiatives (FLR Mechanism, GGWSSI, etc)

Thank you

More information on: http://www.fao.org/forestry/fgr