ENSCONET: Linking RIBES to seed banks across Europe Collegando RIBES alle banche del germoplasma di tutta Europa Simon Linington Seed Conservation Department, RBG Kew, Wakehurst Place, Sussex, UK

ENSCONET Project Purpose Improved quality, co-ordination and integration of European seed conservation practice, policy and research for native plant species - to assist EU conservation policy and its obligations to the Convention on Biological Diversity and its Global Strategy for Plant Conservation Migliorare la qualitá, la coordinazione e l’integrazione dei metodi di conservazione del germoplasma in Europa, la polita e la ricerca sulle speci native-per assistere la polita della EU nella conservazione a rispondere gli obblighi della Convenzione sulla Diversita’ Biologica e della Strategia Globale per la Conservazione delle Piante

Basic ENSCONET information A Co-ordination Action Funded under the Research Infrastructures Activity of EU Framework Programme 6 (comprises 18 Integrated Infrastructure Initiatives and 3 Co-ordination Actions) Grant of € 2.54 m plus significant institutional ‘in kind’ support November 2004 – November 2009 Co-ordinated by RBG Kew

ENSCONET Project Purpose 19 European institutions 16 with seed banks for native species; 3 with associated interest Seed banks range in experience: 13 months (Lombardy Seed Bank, Pavia) 40 years (Universidad Politecnica de Madrid) Local, national, regional remits DisparateCo-ordinated Separare Coordinare Bring together isolated activities and institutions to maximum effect

European native plant conservation context Contesto: conservazione delle piante in Europa Bern Convention (Bern 1982) Convention on Biological Diversity (Rio 1992) EC Habitat Directive 92/43/EEC (Brussels 1992) EU 6 th Environment Action Programme (2001) European Plant Conservation Strategy (Průhonice 2001) Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (Hague 2002) –60% of threatened plant species ex situ by 2010…. –Networks for plant conservation activities established or strengthened… –Development of models with protocols for plant conservation… –The importance of plant diversity and the need for its conservation incorporated into … public awareness programmes

Climate change – effect in Europe by 2080 Copyright ©2005 by the National Academy of Sciences Thuiller, Wilfried et al. (2005) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 102, Spatial sensitivity of plant diversity in Europe ranked by biogeographic regions Species richness - nowSpecies lossSpecies turnover Cambio climatico-effetto in Europa per il 2080

Recent European recognition of the importance and loss of biodiversity Recente riconoscimento dell'importanza e della perdita di biodiversitá a livello europeo –Gothenburg European Council (2001) –Kyiv Resolution (2003) –Killarney Declaration (2004) –Countdown 2010 (2004)

Some key players in European native plant conservation Conservazione delle piante native europee: alcuni giocatori chiave National government agencies Planta Europa European Botanic Gardens Consortium National botanic garden networks BGCI IPGRI (crop wild relatives) National seed bank networks REDBAG – Spain RIBES - Italy Regional seed bank network - GENMEDOC Individual seed banks Organisations with interest in seed conservation

ENSCONET Participants Austria Belgium Cyprus France Greece (2) Hungary Ireland Italy (3) Poland Slovakia Spain (5) UK New members (5)

ENSCONET Participants Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, UK University of Athens, Greece Institute of Botany, Bratislava, Slovakia Budapest Zoo & Botanic Garden, Hungary Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Chania, Greece Jardin Botánico de Córdoba, Spain Trinity College Dublin, Ireland Jardin Botánico Viera y Clavijo, Gran Canaria, Spain Agricultural Research Institute, Lefkosia, Cyprus Universidad Politecnica de Madrid, Spain National Botanic Garden of Belgium, Meise, Belgium Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France Universita di Pavia, Italy Universita di Pisa, Italy Jardí Botànic de Sóller, Mallorca, Spain Museo Tridentino di Scienze Naturali, Trento, Italy Universitat de Valencia, Spain University of Vienna, Austria Warsaw Botanical Garden, Poland

Organisation of ENSCONET Organizzazione di ENSCONET Management Team Annual Network Meeting External Arbiters Collecting Activity Group Curation Activity Group Data Management Activity Group Dissemination Activity Group Progress reports Proposals for future actions Co-ordination of Activity Groups Progress monitoring Links to European conservation & research communities

Management Team Meetings Riunioni del gruppo gestione

Collecting Raccolta Baseline of species in European banks Prioritised list of species for collection Seed collecting protocol Leader / Deputy – Jardin Canario / Chania Informazione basica sulle specie conservate nelle banche europee Lista delle specie prioritarie per la raccolta Protocolli per la raccolta dei semi

ENSCONET collection data Other collection data e.g. RIBES List of European plant species + threat status Compare Prioritised target for each bioregion / country Future collecting Key task of Collecting Group

European biogeographical regions Regioni biogeografiche europee X √ X 6 regions currently represented within ENSCONET Definition of ‘Europe’? EEA

Checking out the collecting protocol Controllare i protocolli per la raccolta

Curation Conservazione Leader / deputy – Warsaw / Trento Enhanced quality / security of seed conservation for native species within Europe Baseline documentation on facilities available Agreed common curation protocols Sharing expertise / facilities Miglioramento della qualità / sicurezza per la conservazione del germoplasma delle speci native in Europa Documentazione sulle strutture disponibili Accordo sugli protocolli per la conservazione Scambi di conoscenze/ strutture operative

Data Management Gestione dati Leader / deputy – Dublin / Chania Facilitate data exchange Protocol for recording seed germination data Data management system relational database structure support consistent data entry new banks Virtual European native species seed bank giving easier access to researchers Facilitare lo scambio dei dati Protocolli per registrare i dati di germinazione Sistema per la gestione dati struttura relazionale delle basi dati sostegno costante per l’inserimento dati alle nuove banche Banca del germoplasma virtuale per le specie native europee per facilitare l’accesso dei dati ai ricercatori

Dissemination Divulgazione Leader / deputy – Valencia / Crete Website / Sito Web E-forum ENSCONEWS – Annual bulletin / Bollettino annuale Information sheet / Foglio informativo Press releases

RIBES & ENSCONET together we have greater influence RIBES & ENSCONET: insieme abbiamo piú influenza RIBES ↔ ENSCONET Greater influence National / international policy / funding

The Vision for ENSCONET La visione per ENSCONET Plays a key role within European conservation activity and particularly the delivery of the GSPC Links well to related initiatives, groups and databases Influences policy and resource commitments Develops into a long-lasting and wider network Gioca un ruolo chiave all'interno delle attività europee di conservazione e in particolare risponde alla GSPC Si collega bene alle iniziative relative, ai gruppi e alle basi di dati Influenza la politica e impegna le risorse Si sta sviluppando in una rete duratura e grande