A European Parliament committee discussing “Genetic diversity, conservation and crops wild relatives”? Yeah, I didn’t think that was possible either, but here’s the evidence. And you can even see and hear the whole thing, in the language of your choice. ((Though alas the presentations are not shown.)) In the hot seat in front of the committee were: Prof. Nigel Maxted, Senior Lecturer in Genetic Conservation, School of Biosciences, University of Birmingham, UK; Dr Susanne Barth, Senior Research Officer, Plant Genetics, Teagasc CELUP Crop Research, Ireland; and Dr Nicolas Roux, Senior Scientist, Musa Genetic Resources Team Leader, Effective Genetic Resources Conservation and Use Initiative, Bioversity International, Montpellier, France.
At least one parliamentarian was impressed with what Nigel (right) et al. had to say. Let’s hope that translates into action.
Fascinating session in @EP_Agriculture on Genetic Diversity and Crop Wild Relatives. Dr Nigel Maxted from @birminghamuniv talking about threats to genetic diversity and importance of conserving wild plant species, “we cannot wait we have to conserve them now” pic.twitter.com/Uw8UkySDDa
— Anthea McIntyre (@anthea_mcintyre) December 7, 2017