The Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity has issued a new notification on ways of strengthening conservation of crop wild relatives in Protected Areas or through other area based conservation measures.
Crop wild relatives (CWR) are species closely related to crops (including crop progenitors). They are potential sources of traits such as pest or disease resistance, yield improvement or stability but have received relatively little systematic conservation attention. Species and populations of crop wild relatives are often at risk. The notification, also supported by the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, the FAO Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture and Bioversity International suggests ways of supporting conservation of crop wild relatives, including financial mechanisms that might support such activities.
The role of PAR as an a voluntary, informal, mechanism aiming to support the development of knowledge needed to maintain and use agrobiodiversity is noted.