Yasuní National Park disappoints lovers of crop wild relatives

The Yasuní National Park in Ecuador is apparently the mother of all biodiversity hotspots, “home to the most diverse array of plants and animals in South America and possibly the planet.” And not only that, it may actually continue to be so, unlike many other protected areas.

There are hints that the park could have extra conservation value in a warming world. Yadvinder Malhi, an ecologist at Oxford specializing in the Amazon, said that nearly all climate models simulating the impacts of global warming show the area staying wet even as other parts of the vast basin get drier.

Yeah, but has it got any crop wild relatives, I hear you ask. Well, I asked our friend Julian Ramirez at CIAT, who works with Andy Jarvis. Alas, only one species turns up in Yasuní from the genera of the main South America crops for which he has a decent number of geo-referenced observations (Arachis, Solanum, Phaseolus and Manihot): Manihot brachyloba. Andy, who did his PhD in Yasuní, says he also saw wild cacao and pineapples there. No doubt Julian is putting together the data for those genera as we speak.

Yasuní is of course in the Amazonian lowlands. Wild relatives of Phaseolus and Solanum are in other, nearby protected areas in the Ecuadorian Andes. But that’s another story. For this one: thanks, Julian.

5 Replies to “Yasuní National Park disappoints lovers of crop wild relatives”

  1. I imagine that most protected areas, despite their probable diversity of crop wild relatives, would disappoint lovers of this particular cluster of plants. The majority of protected areas continue to lack management plans. If they don’t, the plans are rarely implemented for a variety of reasons and almost certainly contain nothing on crop wild relatives or measures to enhance their in situ conservation. While there is no doubt great benefits to be had from better connectivity between protected areas (as a link in this particular story stresses – and which a recent publication Nature’s Matrix makes a good case for from the agrobidiversity perspective) looking after crop wild relatives in the current protected area network falls very short of what is required. We might have much information but it is hardly matched by the required on-the-ground action.

  2. Sometime around 1997 I wrote an extensive review, for the FAO Commission, on `PGRFA in Protected Areas Around the World’. The Summary is below. I do not think things have changed much since, other than people being accepted as part of reserves, rather than being kicked out.

    “This review surveys the status of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (PGRFA) in Protected Areas. Emphasis was given to the UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Reserves, but other Protected Area systems were considered.

    Most Protected Area management ignores PGRFA, thereby wasting an excellent opportunity for the in situ conservation of critically valuable PGRFA. However, there are good reasons for this neglect.

    – Most Protected Areas do not have plant species inventories. It should be the responsibility of protected Area managers to provide these urgently.

    – There is no agreed definition and list of PGRFA. Information is scattered widely and not available to managers of Protected Areas. It should be the responsibility of FAO to prepare such a list (and to publish it preferably electronically).

    – Management guidelines for PGRFA in Protected Areas are urgently needed. Without them there will be confusion over objectives and implementation of conservation.

    – FAO could monitor, through in-house staff or consultants, protected area proposals and management plans. This would include present and future World Heritage Sites, Ramsar Reserves, and MAB Biosphere Reserves, and GEF Biodiversity Projects. Strong emphasis could be given to ensure adequate coverage of PGRFA in National Biodiversity Action Plans.

    – FAO could design a limited number of specific model projects for PGRFA conservation within Biosphere Reserves. These projects should be based on an assessment of priorities, and on state-of-the-art management guidelines.”

  3. Dave, yes little has indeed changed. Would you happen to have a copy of the report? Failing this, how might I get a copy?

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