Implementing the Convention on Biodiversity with respect to domestic animal diversity

Background The FAO (FAO, 1999; FAO/UNEP, 1995) is alerting the global community to the alarming figures in respect to domestic animal diversity. It estimates that about one third of the world's recognized 5000 livestock and poultry breeds are endangered and that breeds become extinct at the rate of one per week. Nevertheless, the subject has received much less attention than plant genetic diversity and hardly any awareness appears to exist about the problem of animal genetic resource erosion among either donor agencies or among NGOs and groups at the grassroots level. Contrary to the situation with plant genetic resources, approaches for participatory conservation are lacking, although the majority of the threatened Animal Genetic Resources (AnGR) are vested with traditional pastoralist and farmer communities. Domestic animal diversity is an outcome of these very diverse ethnic and social groups managing domesticated animal populations in a wide variety of habitats and manipulating their genetic composition according to their own needs, cultural preferences, indigenous knowledge and ecological conditions.