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

Funded by the Horizon 2020 Framework Programme of the European Union 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 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

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

Examples of agriculturally important traits from CWR 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.

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

PGRFA in the Euro-Mediterranean region 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)

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

Red List status and population trends of 192 high priority European CWR CR 9 EN NE 17 38 VU NA 17 2 Increasing 2.3% NT Decreasing 10.9% 16 DD 36 LC 57 Unknown 48.2% 31% threatened or Stable Near Threatened 38.7%

Globally and regionally threatened European CWR 35 30 25 No. of species 20 15 Regional assessments Global assessments 10 5 0 x s s e s t t h a d a s a r e e m u e a e e t e a c c n a g e e e l u g t p o p p p u B h e O P a t a m k m i n r t r W v s l c l e s o a / e A l i o n a a f L p h d r c a C e s r G d a A e a m n c b G a i u s a g s s b a e t a i r L u B F r f e n o t S Globally and regionally threatened (CR, EN or VU) or Near Threatened (NT) species, out of 571 assessed in 14 crop gene pools/groups

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

Can we conserve CWR in N2K? Identifying CWR taxa in the Network 66 (14%) of priority CWR 2. Taxa species in Europe in the characteristic Interpretation Manual of of Annex I EU Habitats habitats 1. Habitats 3. GIS Directive taxa analyses 4. 30 (6%) of priority CWR Identification taxa in Europe ‒ 21 listed in by PA Annexes II and IV (none in managers Annex V)

Can we conserve CWR in N2K? GIS analyses Collation, cleaning and formatting of occurrence data (GBIF & Genesys) Diversity and gap analyses: Taxon richness, Ecogeographic, Complementarity, Protected areas Proposal for priority localities for CWR conservation action

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 Preliminary results: Greece 308 Cyprus 97 Turkey 304 Slovakia 92 753 taxa with ≈ 4M § Sweden 278 Slovenia 91 data points (87.2% of Portugal 263 Estonia 85 target CWR taxa) United Kingdom 260 Ireland 84 Distributed in 43 Russian Federation 256 Montenegro 52 § European territories Belgium 243 North Macedonia 51 Austria 225 Serbia 50 Hotspots in Spain, § Netherlands 225 Kosovo 39 Norway 205 Iceland 35 France, Germany, Finland 195 Belarus 33 Italy, Greece and Bosnia and Herzegovina Ukraine 180 33 Turkey Denmark 168 Latvia 31 Bulgaria 152 Andorra 24 Hungary 145 Moldova, Republic of 16 Poland 139 Lithuania 9 Romania 131 Liechtenstein 1 Luxembourg 115

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 occurrence data) Presence in N2K sites § in all EU 28 Passively protected CWR populations

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 Preliminary results: 3 ES6140004 Sierra Nevada 128 Spain 4 ES0000031 Sierra de Grazalema 126 Spain 8302 sites in N2K § 5 ES5110011 Serres del Litoral Septentrional 125 Spain hosting CWR L'Alt Maestrat, Tinença de Benifassà, 6 ES0000465 Turmell i Vallivana 119 Spain populations (29.8% 7 FR4211811 Vallée du Rhin de Lauterbourg à Strasbourg 119 France of total N2K sites) 8 ES5140011 Sistema Prelitoral meridional 116 Spain 9 ES0000035 Sierras de Cazorla, Segura y Las Villas 113 Spain Hotspots in Spain, § Vallées de la Warche et du Bayehon en aval 10 BE33042C0 du barrage de Robertville 110 Belgium France, Belgium, 11 DE4545301 Elbtal zwischen Schöna und Mühlberg 109 Germany Germany, Italy and 12 DE6715302 Bellheimer Wald mit Queichtal 109 Germany 13 ES0000051 Sierra de Aracena y Picos de Aroche 108 Spain Portugal 14 ES5110013 Serres del Litoral central 108 Spain 15 DE6533471 Nürnberger Reichswald 105 Germany Serres de Mariola i el Carrascal de la Font 16 ES0000474 Roja (ZEPA) 105 Spain RICHEST AREAS PASSIVELY PROTECTING CWR POPULATIONS

CWR conservation planning Next steps Ecogeographic and § complementarity analyses to identify the minimum number of 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