January 2012: The Secretariat of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGR) has published an educational module on conservation and sustainable use, as part of a series of training materials for the Treaty’s implementation. The module provides technical background on different methods for the conservation and sustainable use of crop diversity, and illustrates options and examples for putting ITPGR’s provisions into practice at international, regional, national and local levels.

The module explains in detail the Treaty’s provisions for conservation and sustainable use of crop diversity, and outlines their links with other mechanisms and instruments, in particular the recently adopted Second Global Plan of Action on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture.

The module is designed both for technical stakeholders, such as gene bank managers and breeders, as well as policy makers and civil servants. It was produced under the coordination of the Treaty’s Secretariat, in a participatory process that involved over 20 experts from different stakeholder groups including international institutions, academia, parties, civil society organizations and the seed industry. [ITPGR News Release] [Publication: Module 2: Conservation and Sustainable Use under the International Treaty]