Recovery, Conservation and Sustainable Use of Georgia's Agrobiodiversity

GEO/01/G41/1G/72
Total budget: 25 000 USD
UNDP Sector: Environmental Conservation and Management
Starting date: September 2000
Duration: 6 months

Background:

Although Georgia is relatively small in size. its topography and climate are highly varied, resulting in a unique and very significant diversity of habitats and endemic plants and animals, important to the biodiversity. Caucasus is an important region in terms of floristic diversity. Out of 4 200 to 5 500 vascular plants 380 (9%) are endemic to Georgia and 600 (14.2%) – to the Caucasus. Georgia has a very rich flora of crop plants, both in terms of number of species (about 100 families and 350 local species of grain crops) as well as in terms of intraspecific variability. The full size project will focus on conservation of local endemic and threatened crop varieties important to food security and livelihoods of rural population in two regions of Georgia: Samegrelo-Racha-Svaneti and Samtskhe-Javakheti. Special attention will be drawn to stress-resistant landraces of wheat, barley, oat, rye, grain legumes (pea, chickpea, lentil, faba bean) and fruit species (plum, cherry, quince) that have wild relatives in Georgia. Hundreds of species of local flora are applied in the traditional folk medicine. Along with above listed cultivated breeds and their wild relatives, the project has selected around thirty medicinal plants, which are threatened to extinction or under serious genetic erosion. All of them are listed in either IUCN red list of threatened plants, Red Data Book of Georgia or the USSR Red Data Book.

The objective of the project is to identify and remove barriers to recovery, conservation and sustainable use of agrobiodiversity of Georgia to improve local livelihoods and contribute to poverty reduction through enhancement of access to food in remote and marginal areas. The project through applying combination of in-situ and ex-situ measures will pursue the objective of maintenance and conservation of genetic resources of cultivated plants and their wild relatives (including medicinal plants), paying particular attention to: a) regeneration of local traditional knowledge or organic farming; b) maintenance of targeted plant populations in the communities of their origin; c) training to improve local capacities for implementing conservation activities in the future.

1. To select sub-regions and farms in which the targeted species show competitive edge over the introduced ones;

2. To obtain and replicate stock of seeds of targeted species and to distribute them;

3. To replicate selected fruit trees in nurseries and distribute them;

4. To strengthen and/or create farmers’ associations to be in charge of the multiplication and distribution of seed and other planting material to farmers and the maintenance of information exchange mechanisms;

5. To implement conservation measures for plants targeted by combination of in-situ and ex-situ measures, accentuating restoration activities for stunted populations (by sowing, facilitating vegetation propagation, etc).

6. To establish micro reserves for the conservation of selected wild varieties;

7. To restore and ensure long-term funding for selected ex-situ collections;

8. To establish regular seminars for the exchange of information and planting material among farmers;

9. To design and implement a program for technical capacity building in local communities, farmer associations and local institutions to assist farmers in the adoption of traditional crops and indigenous species;

10. To establish a database and information monitoring mechanism for agrobiodiversity in Georgia.

1. Established model for conservation and use of biological diversity of global significance important for agriculture;

2. Conservation in-situ of selected rare and threatened local varieties;

3. Establishment of mini reservoirs for selected wild varieties in collaboration with local authorities and public;

4. Established information exchange network for farmers;

5. Selected ex-situ collections preserved in botanical gardens, institutes, and/or private farms;

6. Strengthened capacity of local communities, NGOs and local authorities to use and promote the use of traditional crops and indigenous species under conditions of low (or even zero) input;

7. Establishment of an information database and a monitoring (updating) mechanism for traditional crops and indigenous species in Georgia.