Department of International Environment and Development Studies, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Aas, Norway.
Global Crop Diversity Trust, Bonn, Germany.
Nat Plants. 2020 Nov;6(11):1311-1317. doi: 10.1038/s41477-020-00802-z. Epub 2020 Nov 9.
Crop diversity underpins food security and adaptation to climate change. Concerted conservation efforts are needed to maintain and make this diversity available to plant scientists, breeders and farmers. Here we present the story of the rescue and reconstitution of the unique seed collection held in the international genebank of International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) in Syria. Being among the first depositors to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, ICARDA managed to safety duplicate more than 80% of its collection before the last staff had to leave the genebank in 2014 because of the war. Based on the safety duplicates, ICARDA since 2015 have rebuilt their collections and resumed distribution of seeds to users internationally from their new premises in Morocco and Lebanon. We describe the multifaceted and layered structure of the global system for the conservation and use of crop diversity that enabled this successful outcome. Genebanks do not work alone but in an increasingly strengthened and experienced multilateral system of governance, science, financial support and collaboration. This system underpins efforts to build sustainable and socially equitable agri-food systems.
作物多样性是粮食安全和适应气候变化的基础。需要协同努力来保护和使植物科学家、培育者和农民能够获得这种多样性。在这里，我们讲述了在叙利亚国际干旱地区农业研究中心（ICARDA）的国际基因银行中抢救和重建独特种子收藏的故事。作为第一批存入斯瓦尔巴全球种子库的机构之一，ICARDA 在 2014 年由于战争最后一批员工不得不离开基因库之前，成功地复制了其收藏的 80%以上。基于安全备份，自 2015 年以来，ICARDA 已在摩洛哥和黎巴嫩的新场所重建了他们的收藏，并恢复了向国际用户分发种子。我们描述了用于保护和利用作物多样性的全球系统的多方面和多层次结构，该系统促成了这一成功结果。基因库并非单独运作，而是在一个日益加强和经验丰富的多边治理、科学、财政支持和合作体系中运作。该系统为建立可持续和社会公平的农业食品系统提供了支持。
