Periodic Reporting for period 2 - GenRes Bridge (Joining forces for genetic resources and biodiversity management)
Okres sprawozdawczy: 2020-07-01 do 2021-12-31
The GenRes Bridge project has significantly contributed to ensuring long-term food security, and delivering many non-food products and services. It has supported different functions of agriculture and forestry, fundamental to planetary wellbeing. It has harnessed knowledge, strategies, tools and infrastructures developed individually in crop, forest and animal domains over recent decades by the three pan-European genetic resources networks: ECPGR (European Cooperative Programme for Plant genetic Resources), EUFORGEN (European Forest genetic Resources Programme) and ERFP (European Regional Focal Point for Animal genetic Resources). Together with a wide range of biodiversity stakeholders and end-users of GenRes within and beyond Europe, GenRes Bridge has enhanced the conservation and sustainable use of genetic resources in Europe, achieving all of its objectives as follows:
• Accelerated collaborative efforts among crop, forest and animal GenRes networks and wider (agro) biodiversity stakeholders
• Widened individual network capacities to enhance the status and effectiveness of GenRes conservation and use
• Enhanced Gen Res’ conservation status
• Improved services offered to Gen Res end-users
GenRes Bridge has delivered:
The Genetic Resources Strategy for Europe (GRS4E‒ www.genresbridge.eu/GRS4E)
An innovative concept for integrated management and conservation of genetic resources focused on genetically-diverse landscapes, linked to hotspots of livestock, crop and forest diversity (www.genresbridge.eu/resources/genetic-hotspots)
The Genetic Resources Gateway, a portal to map and access initiatives and actors responsible for Genetic Resources conservation (www.genres.eu)
The open-access, peer-reviewed journal Genetic Resources, on plant, animal and forest genetic resources (www.genresj.org)
WP3‒GenRes in action: i) reviewed the scientific context for developing GRS4E; ii) assembled evidence to support developing in situ GenRes conservation measures and their implementation; iii) contributed to valorising and conserving GenRes within an agro-ecological framework, and iv) compiled scientific messages for the preparation of the GRS4E (in WP2). WP3 provided demonstration cases and an overview of regional genetic diversity hotspots, to outline assessment gaps and help consolidate cross-domain GenRes conservation. WP3’s survey work showed that current GenRes network services are available, used and appreciated across a range of stakeholders, and highlighted a need to collaborate and develop common cross-domain services and activities. Cross-domain quality-management peer reviews proved positive, providing a means for increasing genebank transparency, and of mutual learning. WP3 considered phytosanitary barriers to GenRes exchange, and proposed collaborative actions for safe GenRes exchange via harmonized protocols. These were integrated in GRS4E and the domain-specific strategies. WP3 has reached all milestones and produced a higher-than-planned number of deliverables, some key to the GRS4E.
WP4‒GenRes Data: i) Through workshops, webinars and WP3 interactions WP4 updated partners’ data-management knowledge on both FAIR principles, and on data-user service needs. ii) WP4 also considered better data integration within and between domains and beyond with data from other stakeholders. iii) WP4 developed a proof-of-concept portal to access GenRes accessions data to complement the GenRes Gateway (WP5). iv) These helped develop a publicly-available “Strategy and priorities for delivering information services to end users”. v) WP4 established a shared vision for biodiversity data commons via the European data infrastructure ELIXIR and other infrastructures (GBIF, DISSCO); vi) WP4 updated and tested guidelines for data curation and submission to the central networks repositories. vii) GenRes Bridge spearheaded the successful launch of the Genetic Resources journal with stakeholder support for the journal’s sustainability plan.
WP5‒GenRes Bridge communications have been successful in increasing project visibility and helping develop and promote the GRS4E, which will contribute to improving and harmonising GenRes conservation and sustainable use within regional agricultural and forestry systems’. The key dissemination tools of project website and twitter will continue to provide access to project outputs. A key dissemination success was the GRS4E launch in Brussels.