Natura 2000 and conservation of plant genetic resources for food and - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Natura 2000 and conservation of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture

• S. Kell, J.M. Iriondo, M.L. Rubio Teso, C. Alvarez, and N. Maxted

Funded by the Horizon 2020 Framework Programme of the European Union

30 YEARS OF EUROSITE

New approaches to nature conservation and securing resources Museo della Biodiversità di Monticiano, Italy, 05–07 November 2019

In this presentation….

1. Importance of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (PGRFA), and the policy context 2. PGRFA in the Euro-Mediterranean region: diversity, threats and in situ conservation status 3. Crop wild relatives (CWR) in the Natura 2000 Network 4. Introduction to the Farmer’s Pride project 5. Potential collaboration with protected area managers

§ Wild plant species with potential as trait donors to crops [crop wild relatives ‒ CWR] § Cultivated varieties of plant species [landraces/farmers’ varieties] [modern cultivars] § Wild-harvested species used for human and animal food § Plant breeders’ material [advanced lines, élite varieties and DNA]

Plant genetic resources for food and agriculture

“Any genetic material of plant origin of actual or potential value for food and agriculture” (FAO ITPGRFA 2001)

Plant genetic resources for food and agriculture

“PGRFA are the biological basis of world food security and, directly or indirectly, support the livelihoods

• f every person on earth”

(FAO CGRFA, 1996)

Provisioning ecosystem services

PGRFA ‒ diversity for food and economic security

Imperative for greater use of both within and between species diversity in farming systems to provide sufficient options for the adaptation of crops as an insurance against climate variability (IPCC, 2014)

§ Resistance to pests – for example, nematodes in sugar beet and potato; hessian fly in potato and wheat; aphids in barley and lettuce; and weevil in pea. § Disease resistance – for example, powdery mildew and leaf rust in barley, oat and wheat; downy mildew in lettuce and sunflower; stem rust and fusarium head blight in wheat; yellow dwarf virus in barley; and bacterial blight common bean. § Environmental stress tolerance – for example, drought, high temperature and salinity in common bean; low temperate in apple; frost in potato; drought in oat and wheat; and salinity in sunflower, potato and wheat. § Quality improvements – for example, wheat protein content; fruit size and shape, and processing ability in tomato; freezing ability in pea; and increased tillering in maize.

Examples of agriculturally important traits from CWR

Policy context for PGRFA conservation and sustainable use

§ International Treaty on PGRFA [ITPGRFA] § Second Global Plan of Action for PGRFA [Second GPA] § Convention on Biological Diversity [CBD]

Ø Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011–2020 (Aichi Biodiversity Target 13) Ø Global Strategy for Plant Conservation 2011–2020 Ø Programme on Agricultural Biodiversity—in particular, the International Initiative on Biodiversity for Food and Nutrition

PGRFA policy context

Target 2.5 By 2020, maintain the genetic diversity of seeds, cultivated plants and farmed and domesticated animals and their related wild species, including through soundly managed and diversified seed and plant banks at the national, regional and international levels, and promote access to and fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge, as internationally agreed

Important crop species and their wild relatives include several cereals and legumes (e.g., wheat, oat, chickpea, lentil, pea and faba bean), fodder and forage crops (e.g., lucerne, white clover and sugarbeet), and many vegetables, fruits, nuts, herbs and oils (e.g., brassicas, lettuce, grape, almond, pistachio, sage and olive)

PGRFA in the Euro-Mediterranean region

Priority CWR taxa in Europe 863 taxa (485 species)

Globally important sites for CWR conservation

40 out of 150 are in the Euro-Mediterranean region

Global diversity analysis of priority wild relatives of 192 food and beverage crops (Vincent et al., 2019)

PGRFA are threatened

Crop wild relatives (CWR) ‒ threatened by climate change, agricultural intensification, land-use transformation, habitat destruction and pollution Traditional crop varieties (farmers’ varieties, or ‘landraces’) ‒ threatened by under-use or abandonment

Increasing 2.3% Decreasing 10.9% Stable 38.7% Unknown 48.2%

Red List status and population trends

• f 192 high priority European CWR

CR 9 EN 17 VU 17 NT 16 LC 57 DD 36 NA 2 NE 38

31% threatened or Near Threatened

Globally and regionally threatened (CR, EN or VU) or Near Threatened (NT) species, out of 571 assessed in 14 crop gene pools/groups

5 10 15 20 25 30 35 B r a s s i c a c

• m

p l e x L e g u m e f

• r

a g e s A l l i u m s L e t t u c e A s p a r a g u s B e e t W h e a t F a b a b e a n / v e t c h G r a s s p e a S t

• n

e f r u i t s a n d a l m

• n

d C h i c k p e a O a t s G a r d e n p e a P e a r

• No. of species

Regional assessments Global assessments

Globally and regionally threatened European CWR

CWR diversity is barely conserved in situ

Very few examples of active in situ conservation of CWR Aegilops species in Ceylanpinar of southeast Turkey Citrus, Oryza and Alocasia species in Ngoc Hoi, Vietnam Solanum species in Pisac Cusco, Peru Triticum species in Ammiad, Eastern Galilee, Israel Zea perennis in the Sierra de Manantlan, México

• 1. Habitats

Directive taxa

• 2. Taxa

characteristic

• f Annex I

habitats

• 3. GIS

analyses 4. Identification by PA managers

Can we conserve CWR in N2K?

30 (6%) of priority CWR taxa in Europe ‒ 21 listed in Annexes II and IV (none in Annex V) 66 (14%) of priority CWR species in Europe in the Interpretation Manual of EU Habitats

Identifying CWR taxa in the Network

Can we conserve CWR in N2K?

Collation, cleaning and formatting

• f occurrence data (GBIF &

Genesys) Diversity and gap analyses: Taxon richness, Ecogeographic, Complementarity, Protected areas Proposal for priority localities for CWR conservation action

GIS analyses

Preliminary results: § 753 taxa with ≈ 4M data points (87.2% of target CWR taxa) § Distributed in 43 European territories § Hotspots in Spain, France, Germany, Italy, Greece and Turkey

CWR taxon richness by country

Country Num of taxa Country Num of taxa Spain 470 Switzerland 113 France 423 Czechia 112 Germany 356 Croatia 105 Italy 328 Albania 100 Greece 308 Cyprus 97 Turkey 304 Slovakia 92 Sweden 278 Slovenia 91 Portugal 263 Estonia 85 United Kingdom 260 Ireland 84 Russian Federation 256 Montenegro 52 Belgium 243 North Macedonia 51 Austria 225 Serbia 50 Netherlands 225 Kosovo 39 Norway 205 Iceland 35 Finland 195 Belarus 33 Ukraine 180 Bosnia and Herzegovina 33 Denmark 168 Latvia 31 Bulgaria 152 Andorra 24 Hungary 145 Moldova, Republic of 16 Poland 139 Lithuania 9 Romania 131 Liechtenstein 1 Luxembourg 115

Passively protected CWR populations

CWR in N2K

Preliminary results: § 606 taxa in N2K à 70% of target CWR taxa have populations in protected areas § ≈ 643K CWR populations (≈ 16% of

• ccurrence data)

§ Presence in N2K sites in all EU 28

RICHEST AREAS PASSIVELY PROTECTING CWR POPULATIONS

Preliminary results: § 8302 sites in N2K hosting CWR populations (29.8%

• f total N2K sites)

§ Hotspots in Spain, France, Belgium, Germany, Italy and Portugal

CWR taxon richness in N2K sites

Order SiteCode Site Name Num diff taxa Country 1 ES5110024 Serra de Collserola 132 Spain 2 ES0000049 Los Alcornocales 130 Spain 3 ES6140004 Sierra Nevada 128 Spain 4 ES0000031 Sierra de Grazalema 126 Spain 5 ES5110011 Serres del Litoral Septentrional 125 Spain 6 ES0000465 L'Alt Maestrat, Tinença de Benifassà, Turmell i Vallivana 119 Spain 7 FR4211811 Vallée du Rhin de Lauterbourg à Strasbourg 119 France 8 ES5140011 Sistema Prelitoral meridional 116 Spain 9 ES0000035 Sierras de Cazorla, Segura y Las Villas 113 Spain 10 BE33042C0 Vallées de la Warche et du Bayehon en aval du barrage de Robertville 110 Belgium 11 DE4545301 Elbtal zwischen Schöna und Mühlberg 109 Germany 12 DE6715302 Bellheimer Wald mit Queichtal 109 Germany 13 ES0000051 Sierra de Aracena y Picos de Aroche 108 Spain 14 ES5110013 Serres del Litoral central 108 Spain 15 DE6533471 Nürnberger Reichswald 105 Germany 16 ES0000474 Serres de Mariola i el Carrascal de la Font Roja (ZEPA) 105 Spain

§ Ecogeographic and complementarity analyses to identify the minimum number

• f PAs and other locations

that include the target CWR taxa and their intra-specific diversity § Feasibility study to determine the suitability of the identified locations for active CWR conservation § Addition of other localities where CWR are already under a level of active management

CWR conservation planning

Next steps

Overarching aim: Enhance and promote the in situ management, conservation and sustainable use of plant genetic resources in Europe to provide greater diversity for food, nutrition and economic security

Networking, partnerships and tools to enhance in situ conservation of European plant genetic resources

Funded by the Horizon 2020 Framework Programme of the European Union

Primary objective: Establish a European network for in situ conservation and sustainable use of Europe's plant genetic resources Collaborators: More than 40 national and international organizations representing stakeholder groups with an interest in the conservation and sustainable use of plant genetic resources – protected area community; farmer, agrobiodiversity, conservation and civil society NGOs; plant breeding/seed sector; public research institutes

www.farmerspride.eu

ECPGR Concept for in situ conservation of crop wild relatives in Europe

The Lizard NNR in Cornwall SW England: survey of CWR Spring 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013

• Allium schoenoprasum
• Allium ursinum
• Asparagus officinalis subsp. prostratus
• Beta vulgaris subsp. maritima
• Daucus carota subsp. gummifer
• Raphanus raphanistrum subsp. maritimus
• Trifolium occidentale
• Trifolium repens

O

Towards the first UK genetic reserve for CWR on the Lizard, Cornwall

Management implications – wild chives genetic diversity

Soapy Cove Kynance Cliffs Traboe Cross Clahar Water

Wild chives, Allium schoenoprasum

Towards the first UK genetic reserve for CWR on the Lizard, Cornwall

Conservation management and monitoring of diverse CWR populations needs to be formally incorporated into the management of the designated protected areas (e.g. SSSIs, SACs, NNRs, etc.), as well as informal protected locations

• Inland and coastal

sites

• Routine monitoring
• Cattle grazing
• Controlled burning of

heath

Criteria related to:

§ Location and spatial structure (e.g., site management plan that acknowledges conservation of PGR diversity; sufficient extent to conserve CWR populations and associated abiotic / biotic natural processes) § Taxa and populations (e.g., not threatened, or actively managed to remove the threat; populations sizes are large enough to sustain them in the long-term) § Management and documentation (e.g., managers of the PA are aware of the target CWR population and include its conservation among their conservation

• bjectives; the population is sampled at regular intervals for complementary ex

situ conservation) § Use of the plant material (e.g., clearly-defined procedure to regulate the use of genetic material; accessible for utilization in accordance with International Treaty on PGRFA from a known national ex situ facility as part of Multilateral System)

Minimum standards for CWR population inclusion in the European Network

If you are interested in exploring PGRFA conservation in your PA: § Keep in touch with the Farmer’s Pride project and related ongoing activities ‒ email me at: s.kell@bham.ac.uk § Let us know whether we can keep in touch with you § Identify CWR populations inside your PAs ‒ we can provide lists of:

Ø CWR taxa listed in the Habitats Directive Ø CWR taxa characteristic of Annex I habitats Ø PAs and geographic coordinates of CWR populations according to the results of the diversity and gap analyses Ø CWR taxa for the region or country according to data in Euro+Med PlantBase

§ Consider whether landrace populations may also occur inside your PA

Farmer’s Pride collaboration with PA managers

www.farmerspride.eu Thank you!

Thank you

s.kell@bham.ac.uk

30 YEARS OF EUROSITE

New approaches to nature conservation and securing resources