- Flyer biodiversity Meeting
- Proceeding biodiversity workshop Utrecht 1999
- Erratum
By Dr. Ken Laughlin, Aviagen, EFFAB Steering Committee at Interlaken Conference 3 September 2007
There is a need for action plans to ensure the retention of biodiversity and not just to conserve the status quo for another day. Furthermore, there is a need for market driven incentives, This, as part of the process for using and developing traditional breeds at local, national and international levels where this might be possible.
It is a good suggestion* to have public policies that support the conservation of traditional breeds and it may also be valuable to have discussion on the perceived positive and negative opportunities of some system of “animal breeder’s rights” in this regard.
*"Dynamics of livestock production systems, drivers of change and prospects for animal genetic resources" presented at the Scientific Forum on Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, 3 September 2007, Interlaken)
There is a need to focus on understanding the real values of these breeds. These values can be validated scientifically following the generation of a sufficient number of animals with accurate trait measurements. This validation will be a necessary basis to understand the match between breeds, populations and genes with the physical biological and economic landscape. Fortunately this does not require high tech science but does require enthusiasm for the work and attention to detail. There is an enormous amount of available experience amongst existing breeders in this area of trait definition and collection.
There is a clear opportunity to engage with the breeders in the “industrial system”, who have seen many of the opportunities and pitfalls of the last century of “informed animal breeding”. Specifically there is an opportunity to learn from the experience and data of poultry breeding which has probably evolved further than any other species in terms of balanced breeding.
Interestingly, the importance of focusing on reducing and halting the loss of indigenous breeds of farm animals is strongly supported by a recent genomic study of poultry. This study has concluded that modern agricultural practices were not the major source of allele loss. The majority of alleles were lost prior to the formation of the current intensive industry.
The breeders in industrial systems have further experience of the opportunities and threats of breeding stock movements where the OIE systems of disease recognition and subsequent movement control are followed.
It is important to identify what the real drivers are in reducing biodiversity and protecting biodiversity. These may not simply be opposites.
