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\"The conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity in the environments where this diversity originated or is being used, are issues which are high on the policy agenda. This book is the first to set out a clear overview of community biodiversity management (CBM) as an approach to meet social, economic and environmental change\"-- Provided by publisher.

The conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity are issues that have been high on the policy agenda since the first Earth Summit in Rio in 1992. As part of efforts to implement in situ conservation, a methodology referred to as community biodiversity management (CBM) has been developed by those engaged in this arena. CBM contributes to the empowerment of farming communities to manage their biological resources and make informed decisions on the conservation and use of agrobiodiversity. This book is the first to set out a clear overview of CBM as a methodology for meeting socio-environmental changes. CBM is shown to be a key strategy that promotes community resilience, and contributes to the conservation of plant genetic resources. The authors present the underlying concepts and theories of CBM as well as its methodology and practices, and introduce case studies primarily from Brazil, Ethiopia, France, India, and Nepal. Contributors include farmers, leaders of farmers' organizations, professionals from conservation and development organizations, students and scientists. The book offers inspiration to all those involved in the conservation and use of agrobiodiversity within livelihood development and presents ideas for the implementation of farmers' rights. The wide collection of experiences illustrates the efforts made by communities throughout the world to cope with change while using diversity and engaging in learning processes. It links these grassroots efforts with debates in policy arenas as a means to respond to the unpredictable changes, such as climate change, that communities face in sustaining their livelihoods.

For maintaining food security and livelihood, farmers in marginal areas of production environments make use of high levels of crop genetic diversity. The exchange of seed and varieties among villagers, and also the relative isolation of local varieties in their production environments, contributes to the continued existence of locally adapted genotypes. In Tigray, one of the major barley-growing regions of Ethiopia, local varieties and local seed systems are dominant. The annual barley seed requirement is met with seed produced, saved and exchanged by farmers. In order to understand the flows of seed and varieties within and between villages, a study was conducted using a survey to gather information from 130 respondents in seven villages. Seed network analysis was used as an analytical tool to assess flows of seed and varieties and to identify farmers who play different roles in the seed system. Within the major seed exchange network, nodal or connector farmers linked seed subnetworks. The flow within villages was much more dominant than beyond. Rare varieties appeared to be sourced from farms that maintain a broad variety portfolio. Varieties seemed to disseminate informally across farms, in their target environments, following participatory varietal selection. The methodology of social seed network analysis proved to be a powerful tool for monitoring seed and variety flows. Furthermore, it identified farmers as critical partners in the conservation and on-farm management of plant genetic resources, recognized the role of plant breeders in participatory varietal selection and that of seed experts, engaged in strengthening local seed supply and in disseminating quality seed of superior varieties.

Evaluation and monitoring are critical to agroforestry (AFS) project management, especially if they aim to contribute to use and conservation of biodiversity and plant genetic resources. A methodology to analyze information used in decision-making processes was developed and applied in a biodiversity conservation project in the Brazilian Amazon. Quality of information gathered at landscape, AFS, species (Bactris gasipaes Kunth, both wild and cultivated varieties) and genetic diversity levels in three dimensions was analyzed. The information at the landscape level was good, while that in the organizational-institutional and socio-economic dimensions was acceptable; information gaps were serious in the genetic-ecological dimension. Ecological and economic functionality assessment based on indicators built upon reported administrative actions suggests that information related to conservation played a greater role in decision-making and management than information associated with use and development. The application of the methodology proved instrumental for enhancing efficacy of decision-making within an adaptive management approach to plant genetic resources use and conservation.

\"The conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity in the environments where this diversity originated or is being used, are issues which are high on the policy agenda. This book is the first to set out a clear overview of community biodiversity management (CBM) as an approach to meet social, economic and environmental change\"--

Millions of farmers depend on the use of local crops and varieties for their food and livelihood. These resources constitute a reservoir of alternative traits and characteristics, which allow us to diversify crops, foods and farming methods and provide material for targeted plant breeding. Still, many countries lag behind in providing support to farming communities for the maintenance and use of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (PGRFA). A global survey was conducted among a wide range of stakeholders to gain insights into the state of on-farm management (OFM) as a strategy for enhancing the maintenance and sustainable use of PGRFA. The survey showed that a wide range of stakeholders provide de facto support to OFM and that the practices they consider critical are focused on building capabilities in local communities. This supports the fact that the management of crop diversity on farm can be promoted in a variety of ways, depending on the specific context, and that local solutions are needed to successfully support OFM. Partnerships and networks should be considered as one of the critical means to promote OFM, as they involve a diversity of stakeholders working towards common goals. The survey further showed that many respondents currently contribute to existing networks relevant to OFM, but that these networks are mainly nationally or internationally oriented and might therefore exclude crucial local stakeholders, such as community-based organizations. Therefore, mechanisms should be put in place to strengthen the collaboration between stakeholders and networks, especially at the local level.

A global survey was conducted among a wide range of stakeholders to gain insight into the state of on-farm management (OFM) as a strategy for enhancing the conservation and sustainable use of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (PGRFA). The results show that OFM is not considered a priority in national PGRFA programmes (NPGRPs), and that OFM practitioners and their organizations are not always aware of, or involved in, NPGRPs. The survey also highlighted the lack of awareness, understanding and collaboration between OFM practitioners and the managers and policy-makers associated with NPGRPs. The outcome of the analysis supports a hypothesis that OFM is, to a large extent, supported by stakeholders who are not directly engaged in the conservation and use of PGRFA, and therefore not associated with NPGRPs. This should be taken into consideration when seeking to improve the performance and impact of national programmes, and their commitment to safeguard PGRFA and contribute to food security, poverty alleviation and sustainable agriculture.

Ex situ and in situ conservation is distinguished as separate conservation strategies by the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). Agrobiodiversity is increasingly approached by conservation and development organizations in the context of sustainable livelihood development, rather than as a means to solely achieve conservation. Community bio-diversity management (CBM) is a methodology whereby conservation and development organizations, through a participatory process, help to build community-based organizations and strengthen their capabilities to achieve the conservation and sustainable use of agro-bioversity. CBM evolved only gradually from practice to a methodology. CBM includes many practices that are used both by community-based organizations (CBOs) concerned with conservation and use, and by external stakeholders that aim to strengthen communities in conservation and livelihood development. Rural poetry and drama are innovative practices of creating awareness on the value of biodiversity, and of documenting traditional knowledge and information.

In 1992, the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) was signed by a large number of countries in Rio de Janeiro. This Convention constitutes a framework linking biodiversity conservation and development. CBD also emphasises the in situ strategy for biodiversity conservation. In the years following CBD, the strategy and agro-biodiversity management received much attention. This book reports on some of the initial efforts to develop and implement in situ conservation through the support of farmer management of agro-biodiversity. Because of the dynamic nature of the human and natural components of agro-biodiversity the strategy aims to maintain, it is referred to as \"on-farm management\" of agro-biodiversity. While studying efforts to develop the strategy, social and institutional aspects of the strategy's development are addressed; these are referred to as the strategy's social construction and social organisation.The book reflects on experiences of a team that worked at the Centre for Genetic Resources, the Netherlands between 1990 and 1998. The team was involved in the development of agro-biodiversity projects in many developing countries. The experiences of the author, the team and their colleagues from the South form the foundation to the book.The strategy has been studied within a framework of experiential learning. Two socio-ecological perspectives have been used to provide the theoretical framework for reflection. These perspectives are used for the development of \"windows of reflection\" that guide and structure five case studies on agro-biodiversity projects and organisations.Adaptive management is the first socio-ecological perspective used. It has been developed by ecologists involved in the management of large ecosystems. Policy and management organisations form a triangle with citizens in an adaptive framework for ecosystem management. Research provides feedback between the management system and the ecosystem and facilitates linkages between components. Social learning is considered an important attribute to adaptive management, as it strengthens management and policy organisations and citizens in their capacity to adapt management practices and policies to the managed ecosystem's ecological and social dynamics.The second socio-ecological perspective is based on the ecological knowledge system. It addresses the social and institutional aspects for the development of sustainable agriculture. Its dimensions are farmers' practices, learning, facilitation, supportive institutions and networks and conducive policies. The book uses these perspectives in an area application foreign to the field in which they have been developed. The perspective's dimensions have been used in the development of four \"windows of reflection\" that have guided the organisation of information gathered. The four \"windows\" guide and focus the case studies on (i) actors involved; (ii) flows of germplasm, knowledge and information; (iii) the social organisation of projects, organisations and the strategy's development; and (iv) the social construction of the strategy and efforts to link conservation and development.The first case study is located in the Netherlands, the author's home country. Institutional aspects of CGN as the National Plant Genetic Resources Programme (NPGRP) or \"genebank\" have been described. Zeeuwse Vlegel is introduced; it is a farmer organisation involved in the production of more ecologically sound and regional bread. In the case study, an attempt to establish linkages between the \"genebank\" and a farmer organisation is analysed. The study reveals that both actors are operating at the far ends of a crop development chain. CGN is not in a position to directly support a farmer organisation in its search for appropriate wheat varieties. It illustrates how dominant institutional frameworks and actor networks limit actors to collaborate and promote utilisation of agro-biodiversity. This situation is worsened by the gradual shift of agricultural research from the public to the private domain and by the unclear CGN's institutional framework.The second case study describes a project to establish an Agro-Biodiversity Centre in Bhutan. It emphasises an integrated conservation approach to the development of an NPGRP. Important elements include the use of agro-biodiversity surveys as tools for prioritisation of conservation strategies ( in situ , ex situ and on-farm), and targeting conservation actions at crops and locations. Another element is a decentralised organisation. It was proposed to develop local and regional agro-biodiversity platforms. The third case study stresses the formation of platforms in the development of biodiversity products. It describes a project to establish a Centre for Biodiversity Utilisation and Development in Ghana. This Centre plays a facilitation role in the initiation of activities and establishes linkages between social actors necessary for development of and marketing biodiversity products. Both the Bhutan and Ghana case studies are primarily based on formulation missions and only cover to a limited extent the projects' initial activities.The fourth case study describes and analyses institutional aspects of the in situ project of the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI). It undertakes activities in nine countries across the world and has been set up as a global effort to strengthen the scientific basis of in situ conservation on-farm. The project is implemented within the framework of NPGRPs, which through participation of NGOs and farmer groups are gradually opened up to new partners. The case study reveals that during the project's initial years IPGRI and its partners have added a strong development orientation to the project. The chapter also illustrates in what way the focus has shifted from science and conservation to utilisation of agro-biodiversity within a context of sustainable agriculture.The fifth case study describes and analyses efforts of the Community Biodiversity Conservation and Development (CBDC) Programme to develop and construct the in situ and on-farm conservation strategies. This programme is implemented by a group of NGOs complemented by some governmental genebanks, research organisations and university groups. It is operational in 16 countries on five continents. CBDC's focus is on strengthening community agro-biodiversity management. The case study illustrates CBDC's effort to develop a protocol for collaboration linking a diversity of organisations in one programme. It also illustrates attempts to link global and local objectives to support farmer management of agro-biodiversity. It is concluded that the programme in its initial years emphasised local capacity building and community empowerment. In its local orientation, CBDC is complementary to the IPGRI in situ project that operates within national frameworks and focuses on globally co-ordinated research. CBDC is above all considered an institutional experiment bringing together a diversity of locally operating organisations in an interactive and \"bottom-up organised\" programme.Conclusions have been drawn on the socio-ecological perspectives and institutional frameworks that support farmer management of agro-biodiversity. A key output is that \"on-farm management\" of agro-biodiversity should be considered by actors in the institutional crop development system an emergent property of an agro-biodiversity system formed by farmers and other actors involved. In the initial technical efforts, conservationists had considered it difficult to develop the strategy. When considering \"on-farm management\" a human activity system, it is evident that these conservationists were constrained by their \"hard\" and technical approach. The ecological perspective on agro-biodiversity as an agro-ecological service has been recognised, when placing agro-biodiversity in a context of increasing agro-ecosystem resilience. An important lesson is that \"on-farm management\" should not only be perceived as a conservation strategy but rather as a strategy that supports and strengthens farmer management and utilisation of crop genetic diversity.In an application of grounded theory, some lessons can be learnt about adaptive management and the ecological knowledge system as socio-ecological perspectives. An important lesson learnt is that rather than ecological objectives emphasised in both perspectives, political, institutional, scientific and conservation objective should motivate actors in agro-biodiversity projects. A second lesson refers to the boundaries drawn for the application of both perspectives on agro-biodiversity management. When using soft system thinking, actors socially construct system boundaries. Because of the mobile and reproductive nature of agro-biodiversity, system boundaries may be defined at various local levels. In an application of adaptive management, each agro-biodiversity system may construct institutional frameworks in which management, policy and citizen organisations are linked. Various case studies illustrate that the establishment of agro-biodiversity platforms and facilitation in processes of social learning and joint experimentation are prominent components in an adaptive organisation of agro-biodiversity management.NPGRPs' opportunities to support farmer management have been explored. Interactions with other actors involved in crop development have been elaborated. Barriers into institutional frameworks and professionalism are described. Some of the case studies explore the ways in which these barriers can be bridged. It is further emphasised that the flow of germplasm, knowledge and information within the institutional crop development system should be modified from a linear to an integrated organisation in which conservationists, breeders and seed specialists link with farmers' local systems. When building an agro-biodiversity management system, the boundaries between institutional and

Despite the fact that both the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) recognize the importance of the in situ conservation strategy, formal plant genetic resources (PGR) programmes have been slow to implement it. As indicated by Thijssen et al. (Chapter 1.1), those programmes face the dilemma of how to incorporate in situ conservation activities into their day-to-day work, or rather, following the terminology of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO, 1996), how to contribute to on-farm management. Few are purposely engaged in on-farm management. Dias et al. (Chapter 2.5) describe, for example, how public gene banks associated with the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa) promote the reintroduction of accessions to farming communities. Feyissa et al. (Chapter 1.4) outline how, since 1989, the Institute of Biodiversity Conservation in Ethiopia (then known as the Plant Genetic Resources Centre/Ethiopia) has been implementing activities for contributing to on-farm management by supporting the establishment of community seed banks. Other national and international PGR programmes have a strong association with non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The agrobiodiversity project in Nepal, described by Subedi et al. (Chapter 1.2), was successful because of the partnerships it fostered between the NGO Local Initiatives for Biodiversity, Research and Development (LI-BIRD) and national (National Agricultural Research Council) and international (Bioversity International) PGR programmes. The PGR programme in Ecuador has developed a strong linkage with a community-based organization (CBO), as illustrated by Tapia and Carrera (Chapter 2.3). Following the reintroduction of gene bank accessions, the national programme supported the CBO through practices such as diversity fairs, diversity blocks and awareness-raising on agrobiodiversity in tourism and education. Kendall and Gras (Chapter 1.7 of) describe how the Maison de la Semence Paysanne of AgroBio Périgord accesses germplasm from the public gene bank in France, though the farmer management of these materials is further sustained through informal structures independent from the public conservation programme. Moreover, most public PGR programmes that contribute to on-farm management are either experimental (e.g. the agrobiodiversity project in Nepal), or depend on specific funding (most other examples). They are neither implemented as part of mainstream PGR programmes, nor funded through government resources destined for PGR conservation.