ous Jordanian government agencies and the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature / Jordan (www.gefweb.org/Outreach/outreach-PUblications/Project_factsheet/Jordancons- 1-bd-undp-eng-ld.pdf).

Constructing dams and replacing dry farming with irrigated farming changes the cropping pattern and decreases the local varieties and weedy forms adapted to dry farming, as was the case for Turkey. But through planned and intensive collection missions the wild relatives and weedy forms of many species are collected and conserved as elsewhere (Tan, 1998). The on-site conservation of wild progenitors of legumes and cereals is also managed (Karagoz, 1998).

2.1.7.5 Change in rangeland composition

Because livestock use most of the primary production in agrobiodiversity systems of arid and semiarid regions, degradation has always been attributed to it (Sidahmed and Yazman, 1994; Squires and Sidahmed, 1997). Grazing helps maintain the composition and the diversity of rangelands. Overgrazing is the main cause for the change in rangeland composition. Countries like Turkey and Syria set up policies for managing rangelands (http://www.ifad.org/photo/ region/pn/tr.htm). The absence of grazing livestock has some negative effects on vegetation. Presently, government supported programs maintain the original forest landscape with the help of goats. Goat keepers are paid, per day and per head, for grazing their goats in the forests of some countries.

2.1.7.6 Effects on animal breeds

Large numbers of indigenous livestock breeds are also threatened. Wildlife and livestock often symbiotically coexist. Plant biodiversity may decrease with the absence of grazing livestock. The replacement of the local breeds with exotic breeds is the main reason for breed extinction. Additionally, two main factors lead to the extinction of breeds: the expansion of crops and irrigation into marginal zones and the conversion of former pastures into protected areas. As a result, livestock keepers often lose first their traditional pastures, then their grazing livestock. Absence of market demand and inability to compete with improved breeds in production are other factors. When communities become integrated into the market economy, animal keepers switch to breeds that produce more milk, meat or eggs. If there is no demand for a local breed, related knowledge can vanish within a generation. Habitat loss also affects wild animals. For example, wetland decline has resulted in the eviction of buffaloes and the disappearance of nesting habitats for some migratory birds. Unbalanced water use and unplanned surface and underground water extraction are affecting the habitats and microecosystems of both animals and plants. In Jordan, pollution of surface and underground water and aquifers from agrochemicals, sewage discharge and solid waste disposal has caused an increased threat to the reproduction of many animals.

Conflicts and disasters also affect both bred and wild animals. Wars and natural disasters can cause massive loss of livestock. Aid agencies often try to help by restocking and importing animals from industrialized countries. Possibly there will be some effects from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and the earthquake in Pakistan.

2.1.7.7 Maintenance and conservation of agrobiodiversity in CWANA

The main focus of policy in biodiversity has been to protect and conserve endangered species and habitats. Some CWANA countries, such as Turkey, Pakistan, Morocco and Jordan, have introduced legislation for the protection of specific endangered species and habitats. They have also designated certain areas as biosphere reserves, nature parks and other protected sites. Most countries do not have legislation to protect agrobiodiversity. In some countries, the legislation has been prepared but not adopted or has not been enforced (http://www.biodiv.org/reports/). Turkey, for example, has various pieces of legislation to protect biodiversity, related to preserving agrobiodiversity and maintaining plant genetics. The most important direct legislation is the Regulation on the Collection, Conservation and Use of Plant Genetic Resources (http://rega.basbakanlik.gov.tr).

Given the importance of the region in both the richness and the uniqueness of its agrobiodiversity, in the 1950s and early 1960s FAO took the initiative to promote collecting and conserving genetic resources worldwide. The 1961 Technical Meeting on Plant Exploration and Introduction was the first multilateral initiative to recommend establishing exploration centers in the regions with the greatest genetic diversity. A pilot exploration center was established in 1964 at Izmir, Turkey, with an agreement between FAO and the Turkish government within a joint project of UNDP. The Crop Research and Introduction Centre with the inclusion of agricultural research, the Agricultural Research and Introduction Centre (ARIC) was the first regional center of Southwest Asia for collecting and conserving Southwest Asian plant genetics (FAO/UNDP, 1970; Kjellqvist, 1975, Frankel, 1985; Tan and Inal, 2003). This initiative was a good opportunity to preserve the unique agrobiodiversity in the first regional gene bank. ARIC (now known as the Aegean Agricultural Research Institute, AARI) did not remain a regional center but successfully began to work nationally in the mid-1970s and is still the Coordination Centre of National Plant Genetic Resources/Plant Diversity National Program of Turkey (Tan, 2000, 2001). In the other countries of this region plant genetic activities are not yet fully organized into a national program and strategy. Plant genetic conservation is mainly done through breeding and selection programs in research institutes and universities and also in the departments of forestry and livestock within the ministries of agriculture. Because of the lack of national policy and special budgets, plant resources are not receiving enough support. Moreover, there is often no coordination among different national institutions (www.bioversityinternational .org). In some countries, in addition to the national programs, many organizations are involved in conserving plant and animal resources. NGOs are active mainly in biodiversity conservation and do not take a key role in plant genetic resources in most countries.

Some CWANA countries have begun to develop national biodiversity plans, which usually incorporate agriculture in biodiversity conservation. These strategy plans set out the policy objectives and targets for managing and sustaining biodiversity. Most countries are addressing the threats to species loss and the need to address this issue through integrated local and distant conservation. They are high-