Biodiversity International, IT

This publication is the result of the International Conference held in Frankfurt, Germany 14-16 June 2011 organized in the framework of an International UN Project funded by IFAD “Reinforcing the resilience of poor rural communities in the face of food insecurity, poverty and climate change through on-farm conservation of local agrobiodiversity”.

One of the major and growing environmental challenges of the 21st century will be the rehabilitation and restoration of forests and degraded lands. But the success of such restoration requires careful planning. This study  provides fundamental information for the achievement of knowledge-based ecosystem restoration using native tree species and draws attention to the importance of embedding genetic considerations in restoration activities.

Agrobiodiversity, which includes the diversity of plants, animals, fish, trees and microbes that are used directly or indirectly for food and agriculture, is the foundation of sustainable agricultural development. But demand has grown for new knowledge and skills to address the multifunctionality of sustainable agriculture and the interconnectedness of biodiversity, ecosystem functioning and human health.

This book is about the conservation of genetic diversity of wild plants in situ in their natural surroundings, primarily in existing protected areas but also outside conventional protected areas. The principles outlined are equally applicable for the in situ genetic conservation of any wild plant species, whether the aim is to maintain a species threatened by habitat fragmentation, over-collection from the wild or a species that has potential use as a gene donor to our crops.