In this brief talk from TED U 2009, Jonathan Drori encourages us to save biodiversity — one seed at a time. Reminding us that plants support human life, he shares the vision of the Millennium Seed Bank, which has stored over 3 billion seeds to date from dwindling yet essential plant species.
The varieties of wheat, corn and rice we grow today may not thrive in a future threatened by climate change. Cary Fowler takes us inside a vast global seed bank, buried within a frozen mountain in Norway, that stores a diverse group of food-crop for whatever tomorrow may bring.
Careless handling of seeds may be the key reason for the unintended spread of genetically modified crops, a study has found. The discovery challenges the widespread belief that the main source of GM contamination is the transfer of pollen by bees from GM crops to non-GM counterparts in neighbouring fields. Human error during seed production and handling is the more likely culprit, say the researchers.
In a long awaited decision, the European Patent Office (EPO) issued its decision on the so- called ‘Broccoli Patent’ today. In its opinion, the EPO explained that methods for conventional breeding of plants and animals cannot be considered as a technical process and cannot be covered by patents. The decision is binding for all similar cases. But observers are warning that plants and animals derived from conventional breeding will still be patented, since the decision of the European Patent Office only excludes processes for breeding but does not concern itself with patents on plants and animals. Read more
Global consultations on Farmers’ Rights as they are addressed in Article 9 of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture have recently been carried out.
The background was a decision made by the Governing Body of the Plant Treaty at its third session (Resolution 6/2009). Here the Governing Body recalls the importance of fully implementing Farmers’ Rights, and requests the Secretariat to convene regional workshops on Farmers’ Rights to discuss relevant national experiences.
The Fridtjof Nansen Institute in Norway has been assisting the Secretariat in carrying out this task. The consultation process started out in July with the sending out of questionnaires (which can be viewed here), in order to involve as many stakeholders as possible, in all parts of the world. By the deadline on 6 September, 56 questionnaires from 108 respondents had been received. These have been analyzed, and a preliminary report will be made available on this website soon. We would like to thank all respondents for their contributions to the survey!
A global consultation conference, with regional components and 52 participants representing a wide range of stakeholders and countries, took place in Addis Ababa 23-25 November 2010. The conference was organized by the Fridtjof Nansen Institute, Norway, and hosted by the Institute of Biodiversity Conservation, Ethiopia.
The results of the global consultation process will be presented in an input paper to be submitted to the Governing Body of the Plant Treaty at its Fourth Session in 2011, as a basis for an agenda item on Farmers’ Rigths. Read more
The results of the Nagoya negotiations – banning Geoengineering, supporting IAASTD and enforcing liability for damage caused by GMOs – underscore the value to all of us of this multilateral Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) for sustaining life on Earth, even if they were less than we had hoped and caused significant concern among many delegates from Africa and Latin America, especially Bolivia*. Read more
The tenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 10) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) was held from 18-29 October 2010, in Nagoya, Japan. Over 7,000 delegates representing parties and other governments, UN agencies, intergovernmental, non-governmental, indigenous and local community representatives, academia and industry attended the meeting. ….
Following intense, late-night sessions marked by numerous parallel deliberations, and down-to-the wire negotiations on ABS, the strategic plan and the Strategy for Resource Mobilization, an impressive package was adopted, making COP 10 one of the most successful meetings in the history of the Convention: the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization, which, after seven years of negotiations, sets out rules and procedures for implementing the Convention?s third objective; the CBD Strategic Plan for the period 2011- 2020, including a mission, and strategic goals and targets aiming to inspire broad-based action by parties and stakeholders; and a decision on activities and indicators for the implementation of the Strategy for Resource Mobilization adopted at COP 9.
Last but not least, the meeting: adopted a decision amounting to a de facto moratorium on geo-engineering; took a stance on the issue of synthetic biology, urging governments to apply the precautionary approach to the field release of synthetic life into the environment and acknowledging parties’ right to suspend it; affirmed the role of CBD in reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries, a brief history of the CBD. Read more
The Second Report on the State of the World?s Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (SoWPGR-2) provides a comprehensive overview of recent trends in PGRFA conservation and use around the world. It is based on information gathered from more than 100 countries, as well as from regional and international research and support organizations and academic programmes. The report documents the current status of plant genetic resources diversity, conservation and use, as well as the extent and role of national, regional and international efforts that underpin the contributions of PGRFA to food security. It highlights the most significant changes that have occurred in the sector since 1996, when the first report on The State of the World’s Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture was produced by FAO, as well as the gaps and needs that remain for setting future priorities. The SoWPGR-2 provides the basis for the updating of the Global Plan of Action for the Conservation and Sustainable Utilization of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. (synthesis and country reports)
