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In situ conservation of crop wild relatives: status and trends

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Abstract

Recognized as a priority three decades ago, in situ conservation of crop wild relatives has developed theoretical and methodological focus and achieved significant on-the-ground progress in the last 10 years, most notably under the impetus of the plant genetic resources community. Literature and Internet searches and interviews with experts were undertaken as a basis for reviewing the current status and trends of this effort worldwide. Country-by-country summaries on in situ crop wild relatives conservation activities are presented, and recommendations are made for future action. Principal recommendations include ‘flagging’ of appropriate taxa as crop wild relatives in botanical and conservation databases, undertaking gap analyses to locate crop wild relatives hotspots, and enhancing cooperation between the plant genetic resources and plant conservation communities.

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  1. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Eco-anthropologie: environnements, populations, sociétés, Laboratoire d'Ethnobiologie, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, FRE 2323, Paris, F-75005, France

    Brien A. Meilleur

  2. Genetic Resources Science and Technology Group, International Plant Genetic Resources Institute, Via dei Tre Denari 472/a, Rome, I-00057, Italy

    Toby Hodgkin

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Meilleur, B.A., Hodgkin, T. In situ conservation of crop wild relatives: status and trends. Biodiversity and Conservation 13, 663–684 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:BIOC.0000011719.03230.17

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