In trying to promote the importance of conserving genetic material of the wild relatives of crop species using an ecosystem services approach, some members of the Task Force on Agrobiodiversity have recently published a policy brief on “incorporating Crop Wild Relatives into the Ecosystem Services Framework”. The Task Force is working on other means of promoting the ecosystem services value of crop wild relative taxa.
Crop wild relatives (CWR) provide an important supporting service to agriculture as a resource for crop improvement, and have been the source of many valuable genetic traits. In addition, CWR also provide a number of other ecosystem services including regulating, provisioning and cultural services.
CWR, however, have not yet been widely recognized in the rapidly expanding ecosystem services field or included in major practical studies. Their inclusion is important since CWR, as with biodiversity in general, face many threats, including urbanization, climate change, habitat destruction and the spread of invasive species.
In this policy brief we outline the importance of integrating CWR into the ecosystem services framework and highlight several project mechanisms that could be adapted to include CWR.
Download the policy brief here.
Read more on the Task force for Agrobiodiversity, part of the ESP Sectoral Working Group 8 – ES in conservation.