Hijacking from the Platform for Agrobiodiversity Research web site:
Plant genetic resources and seeds:
policies, conservation and use India,

Date: 31 October – 18 November 2011
Please see this unique training opportunity organized by the Wageningen UR Centre for Development Innovation, and the Center for Genetic Resources, The Netherlands, in collaboration with MSSRF in India and LI-BIRD in Nepal.

The course will focus on community biodiversity management (CBM) and resilience, Participatory learning and action research Multi-stakeholder processes and social learning, conservation strategies, genetic resources and climate change policy frame, and it will be held in November 2011 in India.

Here the detailed brochure on the course focus, objectives, target group and further information:

Training programme Brochure

This new PhD program at Göttingen University, in Germany, covers disciplines relevant to the diversification of agriculture and use of neglected crops. There are 20 places to be awarded, starting 1st October 2011. This seems open for applicants from developing countries. It might well be worth a try and applicants can always explore the opportunity by contacting the faculty.

Research on biodiversity is a core academic element at the Georg-August-University in Göttingen. The aim of the PhD programme is to discuss the protection and use of biological diversity from the social scientific point of view. Read the rest of this entry »

In response to the increasing demand for capacity building on spatial analysis of biodiversity, Bioversity has just launched a training manual for practitioners who work with biodiversity data and want to develop spatial analysis skills. Spatial analysis is an important tool for gathering information about the geographic distribution of plant diversity  in specific areas or around the world.   The manual, authored by Scheldeman and Van Zonneveld is a terrific product. It relies on free software, explains step by step how to download it, use it, how to import data and perform quality control, produce distribution maps and many more useful spatial analyses. We are really impressed! You can download the manual  here. The manual is a part of other training materials available from Bioversity.

A special orchard, containing rare species of fruit trees, is being planted in Worcestershire. England. The 2 ha orchard is being planted with around 170 trees of different traditional varieties of fruit that were grown in the Wyre Forest.

It is hoped that the “gene bank” orchard will ensure the survival of rare fruit trees for future generations. …

Read from BBC web site about this clicking here

This news item comes from a post on FAO’s NWFP (Non Wood Forest Products) -Digest

I recall about the Association Archeologia Arborea that is doing similar work

This is a contribution to saving threatened varieties that provide precious germplasm, tastes not to be lost, provide important contributions to biodiversity and much more.

Let us know about other good stories like this one you are aware about.

FAO and Bioversity International have developed two nutrition indicators for biodiversity useful to measure biodiversity-related food composition and food consumption of underutilized species (www.fao.org/infoods/biodiversity/index_en.stm).

More information can be found in the document “Specific definition of underutilized species for human consumption”

While reporting upon these indicators, difficulties were encountered in defining underutilized foods. Therefore, FAO and Crops for the Future have developed specific criteria in order to establish the reference list for underutilized foods counting for the nutritional indicators for biodiversity:

Of the following criteria, the first one is compulsory, and several of the others should be met for a species to be included in this list:

• The food was/is/could be used for human consumption.
• May have great potential for contributing to food security and nutrition.
• Mainly local and traditional crops/animals (including insects, amphibians and reptiles) whose distribution, biology, cultivation and uses are poorly documented.
• Receive little attention from research, farmers, policy and decision makers, technology providers and consumers.
• Have weak or no formal seed/animal germplasm supply systems.
• Farmed, reared, gathered or caught in small scale.
• The species must be grown/raised in the country/region where it is underutilized.
  Species that are imported do not count as underutilized in that region.

Furthermore, information on country/region of origin should be given.

These criteria, only intended to be used to report on the two nutrition indicators for biodiversity, should not replace the broad criteria that has been defined for categorizing underutilized species as such (www.underutilized-species.org/spotlight/what_are_underutilized_species.asp).

The integration of these specific criteria and the reference list of underutilized foods counting for food biodiversity will be uploaded on the websites of the Global Facilitation Unit for Underutilized Species at www.underutilized-species.org/species/about_species.asp and of the INFOODS at www.fao.org/infoods/biodiversity/index_en.stm.

We would appreciate receiving your comments by email (email hidden; JavaScript is required) within the 20^th March 2010 on both the criteria and the list before publishing them on the websites.

We look forward and thank you!