European Union looks to regional collaboration on biodiversity as key to achieving peace and sustainable development in the Middle East.

摘要

The Peace Campus Project, a landmark initiative launched by the European Union (EU) to foster the advancement of the Middle East peace process, has designated genetic resources conservation as a major priority. In 1994 representatives of some of themajor countries bordering the eastern Mediterranean Sea (partners include Italy, Egypt, Israel, Germany and the West Bank Authorities of the Palestine Territories) met to draft the structure for a pilot project for conserving the region's biological diversity which would transcend geographical and political divisions. The project, entitled 'Conservation of crop genetic resources in gene parks in the central and East Mediterranean', aims to formulate strategies and devise various approaches for conserving genetic materials in reserve areas throughout the region. Plans call for the development and testing of methods for maintaining wild relatives of crop plants and primitive cultivars within 2 types of protected parks that house either (1) dynamic, naturally reproducing plant populations or (2) static, living collections of horticultural cultivars. How these gene parks will benefit local communities is outlined. A summary of the Peace Campus work plan is presented, and includes a study of variability and its relationship with the environment, and in situ and ex situ conservation. Brief information is presented on the existing plant genetic conservation initiatives of some of the Peace Campus Project partners.