The Swedish national programme for plant genetic and cultural resources
Presented byJens Weibull, The Swedish Biodiversity Centre,
Box 7007, S-750 07 Uppsala, Sweden
Summarized byLila Towle, Frøsamlerne
In order to carry out its commitment to the Rio Convention and the FAO Global Plan of Action for the conservation of genetic resources, Sweden established the Swedish Biodiversity Centre in 1994. As a nation, we have accepted that genetic diversity is an important part of our natural and cultural heritage. Our future may also depend on the conservation and utilisation of this heritage – increasing climatic changes place new demands on the adaptation of cultivated plants.
POM, the Programme for the Diversity of Cultivated Plants (Programmet för Odlat Mångfald), is the national programme responsible for carrying out this mission. POM’s areas of activity include the collection, description and conservation of PGR; further utilisation of PGR through plant breeding and cultivation; research and development; education and information; and international cooperation.
The main current activity of POM is its national surveys of agricultural and horticultural plants. These plant groups are defined very broadly: not only crops but garden plants, both edible and ornamental, and park and landscape plants. We emphasize the collection not only of plants as valuable genetic material, but also their history and the knowledge surrounding their use.
Over a 7 year period, finishing in 2011, we are carrying out a series of “calls” or appeals (Upprop) with the slogan “Help save our green cultural heritage!”. Some of these are completed, like the appeal for seed of vegetable varieties under threat of disappearing; others are on-going, such as the calls for perennials, or more recent such as the call for roses. Other areas being inventoried are berry crops, fruit and nut trees, bulbs, and ornamental trees and bushes. In each case, the plants we are trying to find and preserve are those dating from before 1940-1950.
Through these appeals we hope to find and preserve plants with the many unique tastes and qualities of our past, old varieties and people’s original creations which are well adapted to the local climate, and generations’ worth of traditions and stories. This is both valuable genetic diversity and a rich cultural history.
What happens with the plants we find? They are documented and registered, a reference group decides on their importance and uniqueness, the plants are grown, compared and evaluated over a few years. Samples of all living material have been placed in the Nordic Genetic Resource Centre, NordGen, where they are available to the public and to researchers. Plants are placed in collections or “clonal archives”. Some of these already exist, others are planned as part of the coming national genebank with central and local collections for cultivation, research and enjoyment of our plant heritage.
One of our research and development initiatives is the genetic analysis of the diversity of peas, roses and apples. Some of the varieties tested turn out to be the same under different names, while others are unique, previously unknown varieties. We are also developing a digital, searchable library of historic garden literature.
We publish popular works telling the stories of plants in our collections, the history of various plants, and the reasons for preserving old varieties. Among these works are detailed guidelines for those who would like to carry out local surveys –of cultivated plants generally, and separate guides for spring bulbs and for roses.
Some of our historic varieties are already being served in specialty restaurants as part of the “New Nordic Cuisine”. Possibilities for future utilisation of our heritage plants include distribution of plant material which nurseries can propagate and sell.
We believe that POM’s conservation of biodiversity in the long run can lead to benefits to the environment, to improved food security, increased interest in gardening (social, cultural and health benefits), and to increased tourism to gardens and living heritage sites.