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140 | Central and West Asia and North Africa (CWANA) Report
Modern information technologies such as GIS used to characterize the geographical distribution of wild plants, or new electronic technologies for monitoring the environment such as Planetor, a computer program for analyzing environmental problems (Hawkins and Nordquist, 1991) may greatly contribute to conserving the environment and biodiversity. But new strategies and policies to conserve the biodiversity and improve research on biodiversity are additionally required. Efforts on biodiversity conservation can learn from context- specific local knowledge and institutional mechanisms such as cooperation and collective action; intergenerational transmission of knowledge, skills and strategies; concern for well-being of future generations; reliance on local resources; restraint in resource exploitation; an attitude of gratitude and respect for nature; management, conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity outside formal protected areas; and transfer of useful species among households, villages and the larger landscape (Pandey, 2003, 2004). Traditions are reflected in a variety of practices regarding the use and management of trees, forests and water:
These systems support biodiversity, although not necessarily natural ecosystems, and help reduce harvest pressure (Pandey, 2004). Traditional knowledge associated with biological resources is an intangible component of the resource itself. Traditional knowledge has the potential of being translated into commercial benefits by providing leads for developing useful products and processes. These valuable leads save time, money and investment of the modern biotech industry into any research and product development. Hence, a share of benefits must accrue to creators and holders of traditional knowledge. Options for protecting traditional knowledge, innovations and practices include (1) documentation of traditional knowledge, (2) a patent system for registering innovations, and (3) development of a sui generis (only example of its kind) system (WTO, 2000). |
5.2.2.4 Livestock and fish
The threat of extinction for many species, both known and as yet undiscovered, grows ever greater as whole ecosystems vanish, human populations proliferate, and human-mediated interference increases (Ryder et al., 2000). Whereas a laudable effort is being made to organize seed banks for plants, no such organized attempts to store genetic material exist for many species of either vertebrate or invertebrate animals. There are worldwide attempts to coordinate and store samples of DNA for every endangered animal species in DNA libraries or to freeze cells or tissues that could readily yield DNA for captive breeding programs. Captive breeding provides an insurance strategy against extinction and for some species may be the only hope of survival. It requires input from population genetics to preserve high levels of genetic diversity, and from reproductive physiologists to promote the establishment of pregnancies, for example by artificial insemination. Cryopreservation of gametes and embryos has a role to play, while in the future, nuclear replacement cloning from established cell lines might prove of value. Such strategies may succeed in saving a small fraction of endangered species, at least for a time (Ryder et al., 2000). These tools will be particularly powerful when used in conjunction with efforts to conserve the habitats in which populations restored by DNA techniques can live. West Asia and Mediterranean North Africa are endowed with considerable genetic diversity in small ruminantsâvarious breeds of sheep and goats that are adapted to a range of arid and semiarid environmental conditions. But these local breeds may be endangered through intensified production systems and uncontrolled crossbreeding with exotic breeds. Therefore, it is important to think of possible ways to conserve the genetic diversity of these local breeds, which may be valuable in the future. One way of preserving genetic diversity is ex situ conservation by storing frozen semen in gene banks. Another way is in situ conservation. The best way forward would be a combination of both conservation approaches, but the costs of ex situ conservation might be high. Storage facilities could be shared by different countries, thus reducing costs for each country. In aquaculture, broodstock is either obtained from the wild or domesticated in the hatchery. Depending on the wild is not enough for optimum aquaculture production. In the hatchery, broodstock must be managed to ensure genetic resources are conserved, to maintain the desirable characters of the farmed species and to avoid problems of inbreeding (Bartley, 1998). Genetic processes such as hybridization, chromosome set manipulation and sex reversal are used in aquaculture to improve breeds. Genetic technologies can also be used to reduce the environmental risks of exotic species escaping from the aquaculture facilities. To reduce the effects of changing genetic resources of organisms produced in hatcheries, several protocols have been prepared that demonstrate the best methods for choosing the origin and number of parents from specific fish species. 5.2.2.5 Institutional considerations CWANA member countries are encouraged to become party to the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources |
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