http://www.agrobiodiversity.net SAVE-Foundation office@save-foundation.net http://arca-net.info/upload/news/Carpathian-Mountain-Cow_Linda-Roehl.pdf 27 March 2015 00:00:00 GMT In remote areas of the Carpathians still rare autochthonous breeds can be found. Our colleague Linda Röhl found some Carpathian Mountain Cattle types and describes them here: e SAVE-Foundation 07 November 2014 00:00:00 GMT Today in Switzerland and also in many neighboring countries, the interest in the diversity of cultivated plants and their conservation is very large. Breeders were the first who recognized the importance of diversity in landraces, because breeding depends on a wide range of types and properties. Private organizations became active and collected old varieties. Since 1999, the state supports through the National Plan of Action for the conservation and sustainable use of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (PGRFA NAP) the collection, security, identification and description of old cultivated. Currently 8291 varieties are conserved (20 plant families and 50 species). In Switzerland, therefore, is already available a wealth of information on crops, but this information is not verified, summarized and presented understandable to the public up to now. The new series "crops of Switzerland" fills this gap and simultaneously reveals the great importance of our cultivated plants. The series is intended as a sound basis to professionals, growers, conservationists, lecturer, students, journalists, politicians and government officials. So far is published in German and in French: Corn / L´épeautre; Wheat / Le Blé; Barley / L´Orge; Potato / Pomme de Terre; Corn / Le Maïs. The individual folders or even the whole series is available in bookstores or driectly from the author Peer Schilperoord: schilperoord@bluewin.ch It costs CHF 25.- per issue. schilperoord@bluewin.ch e SAVE-Foundation http://www.alpenrassen.at 11 September 2014 00:00:00 GMT The Alps are not only an economic and cultural area for over 13 million people, but also a habitat of 110 endangered animal breeds. A 7000 years old mountain farming culture is going to disappear. In this extraordinary reference book we meet idealists, experts and contrarians, who are engaged with love for their endangered livestock breeds - from Slovenian Karst in Gorizia on the archaic landscapes of the Western Alps to the coast of the Côte d´Azur: Günther Jaritz "Rare Breeds of the Alps - 7000 years dominated the cultural landscape", in German language: Günther Jaritz: Seltene Nutztiere der Alpen, 7000 Jahre geprägte Kulturlandschaft; ISBN 978-3-7025-0744-2; EUR 39.- kempichl@aon.at e SAVE-Foundation http://www.save-foundation.net/pdf/SAVE_2014.pdf 09 July 2014 00:00:00 GMT The registration documents for the Annual Meeting of the European SAVE Network, at Lonjsko Polje Nature Park, Croatia 18th – 20th September 2014 and the 8th European Seminar on Agrobiodiversity with the theme: “Agrobiodiversity and Nature Conservation” are now available. Please register by 15th July. We look forward to seeing you in Croatia! e SAVE-Foundation http://www.patrimont.org 08 July 2014 00:00:00 GMT Most indigenous pig breeds in the Alps are already extinct. A few relict specimens in different valleys have survived. But they cannot be conserved on their own. The project brings them together in a gene pool and conserves them together. Since they are all black or black-spotted animals, breeding takes place under the name "Black Alpine pig", a name that was already used in old literature for the community Alps black pigs (e.g. JR Steinmueller, 1827). The Black Alpine pig is now a composite breed, but is based on actual remains of Alpine breeds. The project aims at a marketable animal that provides an opportunity for a sustainable Alpine farming again. Within a year the last animals of the Valtellina and Samolaco-pigs were brought together. By mid-2014 there are seven breeding groups in the mountains of the provinces of Verona, Trento, Sondrio (Valtellina) and Como. Four breeding groups are located in agro-tourist farms and are publicly accessible. The herd register of Pro Patrimonio Montano is with 23 animals, based on 3 boars and 6 sows lines info@patrimont.org e SAVE-Foundation 11 December 2013 00:00:00 GMT “Agrobiodiversity and nature conservation” is the theme of the 8th European seminar on agrobiodiversity 2014. Under this topic the SAVE Annual Network Meeting 2014 will take place from 18th to 20th September 2014 in the Lonjsko Polje nature park in Croatia (http://www.pplonjsko-polje.hr/). The nature park, about 90 km southeast of Zagreb, provides interesting insights between nature conservation, cultural heritage and traditional landscape management. In cooperation with the park management a comprehensive and interesting program will be provided, in which also the European Heritage Day is integrated. Make sure you save the date! office@save-foundation.net e SAVE-Foundation http://www.rightlivelihood.org/index.html 06 December 2013 00:00:00 GMT The Right Livelihood Award 2013 was presented to four laureates at the Swedish parliament in Stockholm in December. Hans R. Herren, one of the world’s leading experts on sustainable agriculture, wins the Right Livelihood Award for his commitment to end hunger and poverty in our world. The jury of the prize, also known as the alternative Nobel Prize, said the decision to award Herren was based on “his expertise and pioneering work in promoting safe, secure and sustainable global food supply “for his expertise and pioneering work in promoting a safe, secure and sustainable global food supply”. The prize was awarded jointly with his Biovision Foundation. www.biovision.ch e SAVE-Foundation http://www.familyfarmingcampaign.net 06 November 2013 00:00:00 GMT The UN General Assembly declared 2014 to be the International Year of Family Farming. Family farming is the most common farming model in Europe, the majority of the 12 million farms in the EU are family farms, passed down from one generation to another, and contribute to the sustainability of rural areas. According to the EU “family farming is often more than a professional occupation because it reflects a lifestyle based on beliefs and traditions about living and work.” e SAVE-Foundation http://www.esto-project.eu/ 20 October 2013 00:00:00 GMT The ESTO Project „European Specialist in Traditional Orchards” is a European project supported by the Leonardo da Vinci Lifelong Learning Programme. It involves partner organisations and associated experts in the field of traditional orchard farming, management and education from six European countries - Austria, Poland, Hungary, Denmark, France and Germany. Traditional orcharding in Europe has had a changing history over the last decades. In some regions there exist still agricultural models guaranteeing the continuity and development of this hot spots of biodiversity, but in other regions changes in land use, missing marketing actions and the widespread loss of professional knowledge about traditional orchards are threatening their survival. The overall aim of the project is to contribute to keep traditional orchards as a multifunctional (ecological and economical) sustainable system guaranteeing high biodiversity. e SAVE-Foundation http://https://www.cbd.int/doc/press/2013/pr-2013-10-12-8j-en.pdf 16 October 2013 00:00:00 GMT Governments and indigenous and local communities at the Eighth meeting of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Article 8(j) recently have reaffirmed the need to recognize and integrate traditional knowledge systems of indigenous and local communities into the future work of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), including its Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization. The 8th meeting of Article 8(j) concluded on 11 October 2013 with recommendations for work that will build knowledge networks, support capacitydevelopment and integrate the traditional knowledge and customary practices of indigenous and local communities into the science base of the work of the Convention on Biological Diversity. e SAVE-Foundation 09 October 2013 00:00:00 GMT SAVE Foundation congratulates the Swiss forestry engineer and biologist Dr. Mario Broggi who received the EuroNatur Award 2013 at a special ceremony on the 9th October on the island of Mainau in Lake Constance, Germany. Dr. Mario Broggi has been worked extensively for the strengthening of civil society in Southeast Europe, but also for the protection of the Alps he made extraordinary contributions. 1983 - 1992 he was President of the International Commission for Alpine Protection and instrumental in materializing the Alpine Convention. As a person with a particularly integrative approach Dr. Mario Broggi has been recognized the links between agricultural biodiversity and conservation early, and is engaged in the conservation of old breeds and varieties. e SAVE-Foundation http://www.dutchfarmexperience.com/ 04 September 2013 00:00:00 GMT In ten years time the market for farmers in Dutch supermarkets will look different from today. Bulk products – anonymous supply from industrial (animal) production – will not be the main product offered in the supermarkets any more. The relation between farmers and supermarkets will change dramatically. The market for niche products is rapidly growing, and this will actually be the main trend in the near future. This is the outcome of the study ‘All Markets Included’ (‘Van alle markten thuis’) by the EFMI Business School, commissioned by the main Dutch farmer organization LTO together with the major supermarket chain Albert Heijn. The aim of the study was to review the present and future trends in the fresh food chain in the Netherlands. The study (unfortunately only available in Dutch) especially looked at the consumer trends, partnership models of consumers and producers, as well as value addition, which together promote the sustainability of fresh food chain. e SAVE-Foundation http://www.no-patents-on-seeds.org/en/node/239/insekten-resistente-pflanze 08 July 2013 00:00:00 GMT The European Patent Office (EPO) has granted a patent on chili plants from conventional breeding (EP2140023). In the patent, the plants, the seed and the fruit is claimed, even the growing and harvesting of the plant are considered to be an invention. The patent was granted, even though two million people recently protested via a petition against patents on conventional breeding and the European Parliament has called for a stop to such patents. Precedents relating to patents on tomatoes and broccoli, are pending at the EPO for more than five years and are still not decided. The coalition No Patents on Seeds! and other organizations call upon the political authorities of the member states of the EPO, this patent to stop now. e SAVE-Foundation http://www.biobio-indicator.org/project.php 25 June 2013 00:00:00 GMT Ecological and extensive farming systems offer wild plants and animals space to live. Well-known examples are the Black Vultures in the Spanish dehesa or orchids on the extensively used mountain pastures. These farming systems also use old breeds, such as the Welsh Black Cattle. In this way they contribute to a significant extent in to the conservation of biodiversity in Europe. The goal of the research project BioBio (Biodiversity Indicators for Organic and Low-Input Farming Systems, EU FP7, KBBE-227161, 2009-2012) was to find a set of biodiversity indicators applicable at European level based on scientific principles, and relevant and useful for the interest groups. A report on the indicators, data sheets, the manual ´Biodiversity Indicators for European Farming Systems´ as well as an extensive summary in 12 languages can be downloaded for free. e SAVE-Foundation 10 June 2013 00:00:00 GMT The Carpathian Convention was adopted on 22 May 2003 by the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Ukraine. The Interim Secretariat for the Carpathian Convention, together with visionary government representatives and a great number of stakeholders, contributed to the success of the Convention. Recently, the Protocol on Cultural Heritage was discussed at the meeting of the Carpathian Convention Working Group on Cultural Heritage in Krynica, Poland. SAVE Foundation welcomes the Protocol, especially the proposed Article 14 “Preservation of the Carpathian local breeds of domestic animals and cultivated plant varieties”, as a useful structural framework to support SAVE and SAVE Network Partners in their work in the Carpathian region. SAVE would like to congratulate the Carpathian Convention team on this 10th anniversary and looks forward to future collaboration. e SAVE-Foundation http://https://www.facebook.com/groups/626516310695064/ 03 June 2013 00:00:00 GMT These days, social media is a part of life for many people, even those who appreciate the importance of traditional, rural lifestyles. In order to reflect this and to provide networking space for people interested in the conservation of indigenous livestock breeds and cultivated plants, SAVE has created a group on Facebook called “SAVE Foundation – Variety Savers”. We hope that you will take part in this group and post your news, photos, events and questions and take part in the discussions! The link to the new group is: e SAVE-Foundation 20 March 2013 00:00:00 GMT The General Assembly of the States Parties to the Convention, during its fourth session in Paris in 2012, accredited SAVE Foundation as one of 59 new non-governmental or-ganizations to provide such advisory services. With this accreditation SAVE Foundation will be able to bring the concerns of live conservation of old livestock and crops in the bodies of the UN Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. e SAVE-Foundation http://www.alparc.org 19 February 2013 00:00:00 GMT On January 18th the Association Alparc was created in the National Park La Vanoise. 36 protected areas and partner institutions from all alpine countries joint the association as founding members. This very important participation will allow to the association ALPARC to continue its successful activities which started already 17 years ago with the support of France and the French Regions Rhône Alpes and Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur but as well with contributions of other alpine countries and partner organizations. ALPARC will be as well in the future an international partner contributing to the implementation of the Alpine Convention. e SAVE-Foundation http://www.save-foundation.net/marketing/Arca-Deli/2012en.pdf 30 October 2012 00:00:00 GMT The Arca-Deli Award is a prestigious award with market value but no prize money. It is awarded annually by the SAVE Network for delicacies and innovative services originating from the circles of the European Ark Network "Arca-Net" and the Variety-Savers Network. SAVE Foundation is pleased to announce the winners of the Arca-Deli® Awards 2012! e SAVE-Foundation http://www.fibl.org/de/medien.html 15 October 2012 00:00:00 GMT The new project “Development of an Organic Market in the Ukraine” should develop the organic market in the Ukraine: small and medium sized businesses in the Ukraine should, through certified organic production, gain a better access to the international market. The project is financed by the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs SECO and is run by the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL). Tobias Eisenring, Project Manager, Research Institute of Organic Agriculture FiBL, Telephone +41 62 865 72 40, tobias.eisenring@fibl.org e SAVE-Foundation http://www.agrobiodiversity.net/regional 06 September 2012 00:00:00 GMT Within the framework of the project “Uses of donkey breeds in Europe“ a first version of the database could be placed online. In the database one can find the information collected up to now about the uses of donkeys in Europe. The database will be continuously updated. We are happy to receive your suggestions and ideas. See "Agrobiodiversity.Net", go to "Topic networks", go to "Donkeys". e SAVE-Foundation 25 August 2012 00:00:00 GMT On 15th August 2012 Dr. Martin Schneider-Jacoby died after a brief, severe illness at the age of 56. He was project manager for EuroNatur for 25 years and was particularly engaged in the Balkan region. Martin Schneider-Jacoby was one of the first experts on nature protection who recognised the importance of autochthonous breeds. Thus he was a leading figure in the cooperation between SAVE and EuroNatur. During the rescue of the Turopolje pigs in Croatia, one of the first SAVE projects, he was an enthusiastic partner, just as he was during the ELBARN project in his role of coordinator of the South East European activities. Martin Schneider Jacoby is remembered as a valued project partner and friend. e SAVE-Foundation http://www.save-foundation.net/docu/reports/SAVE_activity_2012.pdf 20 August 2012 00:00:00 GMT The SAVE Activity Report 2012 for the period summer 2011 – summer 2012 is available. In this report programs and projects, activities and actualites are listed and described. The actual SAVE networking activities Pan-European, regional and thematic and also basic actions and model projects of SAVE Foundation are explained. e SAVE-Foundation http://www.arca-net.info 05 July 2012 00:00:00 GMT Arca-Net is ready in an updated version in time for the outings and holiday season. The European Ark network is made up of publically accessible Ark farms, open air museums, variety gardens and arboreta that show the diversity of traditional livestock breeds and cultivated plants in a way that is of interest to the public. Some of them also offer other services (cafes or restaurants, riding or rooms) or products in a farm shop (see attachment). The Ark owners have recently updated their information for 2012 and many new centres have been added in the last year, especially variety gardens and centres in southern European countries. The network contains some 600 publicly accessible places in 46 European countries – from Iceland to Malta, North-South, and from the Azores to the Caucasus, West-East. Many of the centres have also taken advantage of the opportunity to add a product page to their Arca-Net web-pages. You can search for Ark centres in your vicinity or near your holiday place. You can find them all at www.arca-net.info. Why not visit this website and take a look at what is on offer. You can search using either the map or the text search functions. Have fun! e SAVE-Foundation http://www.arca-net.info/upload/pdf/ANL_Illerbeuren_SAVE-Foundation.pdf 12 June 2012 00:00:00 GMT SAVE´s Ulrich Donath gave a lecture: "The value of old breeds and cultivated plants" The conference: You can taste the variety, old breeds for nature conservation, heritage and as delicacy took place on 12-13 Juni in Illerbeuren, Germany and was organised by ANL (Akademie für Naturschutz und Landespflege). It was an event to meet together with nature conservation experts and breeders from central Europe with the aim of discussing about marketing mechanism for old breeds. The goals of the workshop was to give successful marketing examples – and to adress the different values of old breeds and plants for the society and the nature. Values of heritage, nature conservation and economic values. You can have a look on the SAVE lecture in German with the title: "Der Wert alter Rassen und Sorten" End of June you can have a look at given presentations and a summary of the results: http://www.anl.bayern.de/veranstaltungen/tagungsergebnisse/index.htm SAVE Presentation can be found on URL: e SAVE-Foundation http://www.save-foundation.net/pdf/SAVE_2012.pdf 20 March 2012 00:00:00 GMT SAVE Foundation is pleased to invite partners, stakeholders and other interested people to Switzerland for the Annual Meeting and the 6th Seminar on Agrobiodiversity. The event will take place from the 13th-15th September 2012 in Urnäsch in the Canton Appenzell Ausserrhoden. The "Economic Value of Local Breeds and Varieties" will be closely addressed this year. Alongside presentations and experiences from other countries, the example of Switzerland and, in particular the Appenzeller Cantons, will be experienced in the form of excursions and activites. e SAVE-Foundation http://ec.europa.eu/food/fs/rc/scpfgs/summary08062011_en.pdf 12 March 2012 00:00:00 GMT A new draft for the implementation of the regulation from the Standing Committee for Fruit of the European Commission has been published. According to this draft, the marketing of new varieties for the commercial (and national) orchards will be regulated throughout the EU. For the old varieties is simply stipulated that these should be registered. The individual member states will regulate how they can create this register. (Source: H.J. Bannier, Pomologen-Verein e.V, Germany). e SAVE-Foundation http://variety-savers.net/page/heritaste-consultation 22 November 2011 00:00:00 GMT As announced in the last eNews the public consultation about Heritaste® is now running on the Variety-Savers website. It will remain open until the end of 2011. There are still some important points that need to be discussed before the consultation is completed. All interested people are urged to visit the website and to give their feedback either in the Variety-Savers forum (membership required) or directly by e-mail to office@save-foundation.net. See: e SAVE-Foundation http://www.fruit-net.info 17 November 2011 00:00:00 GMT To conserve the almost forgotten knowledge about old varieties and genetic diversity for future generations, the Fruit-Net project was called to life a few years ago. Fruit-Net, the Internet database of conservers of rare fruits and berries in Europe now appears in new guise and with a new database system. In this publically available database a variety of search experts and institutions that harbour rare species and varieties (and in some cases offer for sale) can be found through an extensive search function. It is also possible to search by species (varieties). Currently about 450 institutions and experts in Europe are listed. e SAVE-Foundation http://agrobiodiversityplatform.org/database/ 14 November 2011 00:00:00 GMT The “PAR - Platform for Agrobiodiversity” launched a worldwide “Researcher Database”. This Database is an online registry compiling information about experts and institutions working in the different fields of agrobiodiversity worldwide. The user can search according to certain criteria such as name, specialty, affiliated institutions, geographic location and type of the institution. Each expert or institution can register quickly and easily. The database is available on: e SAVE-Foundation http://variety-savers.net/ 26 October 2011 00:00:00 GMT Variety-Savers is the dedicated social network for networking and listing all keepers of indigenous livestock breeds and cultivators of indigenous cultivated plants found in Europe. If you have not yet joined up, then now is your chance! Go to: e SAVE-Foundation http://https://www.facebook.com/pages/SAVE-Foundation/293654690663822 25 October 2011 00:00:00 GMT SAVE Foundation is now present on some social media platforms. You can “follow” SAVE on Twitter: @VarietySavers (sadly, @SAVEfoundation was already taken by the Student Advocates for Valuing the Environment Foundation). You can also “like” and “share” the SAVE page on Facebook: e SAVE-Foundation http://www.save-foundation.net/marketing/Arca-Deli/2011en.pdf 16 October 2011 00:00:00 GMT The Arca-Deli Award is a prestigious award with market value but no prize money. It is awarded annually by the SAVE Network for delicacies and innovative services originating from the circles of the European Ark Network "Arca-Net" and the Variety-Savers Network. SAVE Foundation is pleased to announce the winners of the Arca-Deli® Awards 2011! see website: e SAVE-Foundation http://www.pp-lonjsko-polje.hr/ 14 October 2011 00:00:00 GMT SAVE Foundation congratulates Croatian conservationist Goran Gugic who received the EuroNatur Award 2011 at a special ceremony on the 12th October on the island of Mainau in Lake Constance. Goran Gugic has a long association with SAVE Foundation especially in connection with the Turopolje pigs. Since 1998, he is the director of the Nature Park Lonjsko Polje. Here, an unbroken tradition of pasturing has been preserved since medieval times. The pasture land serves as retention area for the floods of the river Sava, the largest tributary of the Danube. These alluvial wetlands host an exceptional richness in species. For more details about the Nature Park see: e SAVE-Foundation http://www.save-foundation.net/docu/reports/SAVE_activities_2011.pdf 08 September 2011 00:00:00 GMT The SAVE Activity Report 2010-2011 is now available on the SAVE website. This document will provide you with an overview of SAVE and the projects currently running. e SAVE-Foundation http://www.save-foundation.net/marketing/Arca-Deli-en.htm 30 August 2011 00:00:00 GMT If you are a member of the European Ark Network "Arca-Net" or the Variety-Savers.Net you are eligible to enter the Arca-Deli Awards! These awards are a non-monetary recognition of the work that people do to create quality products and services whilst promoting in situ/on farm conservation of Europe’s traditional livestock breeds and cultivated plants. => This prestigious award is valuable for your product marketing! If you have a product or service that is high quality and can be used as an example of good practice, then enter the award proceedings! A maximum of two products per farm can be entered. You can find out more about the award and the judging process here: e SAVE-Foundation http://variety-savers.net 14 June 2011 00:00:00 GMT The old endangered livestock breeds and plant varieties are increasing in popularity. More and more committed people care about their conservation. Nationally, several networks are in place. With Variety-Savers.Net contacts and experience can now be exchanged internationally and across language barriers. With the "Google Translate" function foreign languages are made accessible and even other characters can be translated easily. Whether one uses the Latin, Greek or Cyrillic alphabet, this will not prevent from making contact with like-minded people. Take a discovery tour of the conservation work in Europe, just for fun, or for something specific. Have a look at: e SAVE-Foundation http://variety-savers.net/page/heritaste-consultation 08 June 2011 00:00:00 GMT SAVE Foundation is in the process of launching a trademark for the marketing of products and services from European agrobiodiversity. As a part of this process a public consultation is being held to discuss the "terms of reference" and the “conditions for use”. The terms of reference include a justification of the need for a standard; clear objectives of the standard and; an assessment of risk involved in setting such standards. The conditions should be a measurable and verifiable standard that can be inspected by independent auditors. The discussion of these conditions and terms of reference will take place on Variety-Savers.net. You can join this discussion here: http://variety-savers.net/page/heritaste-consultation You will be able to read the whole discussion here but you will need to sign in as a member of Variety Savers to add your own comments. Variety-Savers offers the option to translate content. This means that, by using the Google tool provided on the website, you will be able to read the texts and comments in your own language. You can also give your views in your own language. Please note that the translation tool is not perfect – please use short, simple sentences! The consultation will run until the end of 2011 so that a pilot version of the certification can be launched early in 2012. Therefore, we kindly ask everyone interested in promoting the concept of "conservation through use" to join in this consultation process. We look forward to hearing your views. e SAVE-Foundation http://www.save-foundation.net/PDF/SAVE_2011.pdf 02 June 2011 00:00:00 GMT 22nd - 25th September 2011, in Dimitrovgrad, Serbia This year the SAVE Annual Meeting will take place in Dimitrovgrad in Serbia. The International Seminar on Agrobiodiversity will be on the subject of "Preservation or Adaptation? – Conservation in the face of a changing environment". Further information on the Meeting (provisional programme, how to get there) are now available online. Registration forms should be sent by 26th June 2011 to the SAVE office. We look forward to meeting you in Serbia! e SAVE-Foundation http://www.arca-net.info 27 May 2011 00:00:00 GMT Arca-Net is ready in an updated version in time for the outings and holiday season. The European Ark network is made up of publically accessible Ark farms, open air museums, variety gardens and arboreta that show the diversity of traditional livestock breeds and cultivated plants in a way that is of interest to the public. Some of them also offer other services (cafes or restaurants, riding or rooms) or products in a farm shop. The Ark owners have recently updated their information for 2011 and many new centres have been added in the last year, especially variety gardens and centres in southern European countries. Many of the centres have also taken advantage of the opportunity to add a product page to their Arca-Net web-pages. You can search for Ark centres in your vicinity or near your holiday place. You can find them all at www.arca-net.info. Why not visit this website and take a look at what is on offer. You can search using either the map or the text search functions. Have fun! e SAVE-Foundation 26 May 2011 00:00:00 GMT During 15 years the "Monitoring Institute for Rare Breeds and Seeds in Europe", based in St.Gallen/Switzerland, worked as independent scientific branch of the European SAVE Foundation. It acquired scientifically founded basic data for the securing and long-term conservation of genetic resources in European agriculture. The tasks of the institute were: mapping, watching, alarming: - Recording and documentation of endangered breeds of farm animals and varieties of cultivated plants by studying old agriculturaland veterinary publications and by searching in a specific area or in a promising area (mapping) - permanent survey of the situation and call for action, if necessary, as well as judgement of the measures being taken (watching) - waking awareness, both in the wider public and in decisionmakers. Regular assessment of a possible need for action, alarming of responsible institutions and organizations (alarming). Due to the decision by Hape Grunenfelder (director of Monitoring Institute) to gradually withdraw from the world of work into retirement, the Institute was integrated in its entirety, including the budget and the staff, within the SAVE Project Office. With this, the knowledge built up during 15 intensive years is secured for the future for the use by the SAVE-Network. e SAVE-Foundation http://www.save-foundation.net/Conferences/Sighisoara.htm 20 May 2011 00:00:00 GMT The Workshop “Conservation of Autochthonous Buffalo in Southeast Europe” took place 6-7 May 2011 in Sighisoara, Romania and was organised by SAVE Foundation and Fundatia ADEPT. It was an event to meet together with buffalo experts and stakeholders from South-eastern Europe with the aim of creating a network for the conservation of water buffalo in the area. The goals of the workshop were varied – from assessing stakeholder motivation for forming a network through to agreeing upon a conservation strategy through identifying further priorities and planning future actions. Participants contributed with presentations of the situation in their area. Emphasised was the genotyping, the registration and recording of the buffalos in the countries. Presentations and a summary of the results can be found on URL: e SAVE-Foundation 22 March 2011 00:00:00 GMT The autochthonous buffalo of South Eastern Europe including the Pannonian and Carpathian area are little known outside of a small group of experts. There is not much literature about the different varieties or even any certainty about how many varieties there really are. Likewise, there is not much stock data to work with. In the light of this situation, SAVE Foundation has decided to act before it is too late. The main threat, apart from lack of knowledge, would appear to be the cross-breeding with Murrah. Whilst this cross-breeding is understandable, it is nevertheless important to maintain purebred stock that is especially adapted to the region. SAVE Foundation in collaboration with Fundatia ADEPT, Romania announces an International Workshop on Conservation of Autochthonous Buffalo, 6-7 May 2011 taking place in Sigishoara, Romania. office@save-foundation.net e SAVE-Foundation http://www.save-foundation.net/english/PDF/news/SAVE_eNews_11_1en.pdf 17 March 2011 00:00:00 GMT SAVE-Monitoring Institute has published in its SAVE eNews 1/2011 an extensive article on the completion of the feasibility study "Agricultural Species Diversity in the Alps - Conservation and Use of Traditional Knowledge". This wiki-based data-system may be a prototyp for other areas, too. The SAVE eNews may be downloaded from the archive under URL: e SAVE-Foundation