8 Summary
Incomplete information and the uncertainty of the effects of PGRF A loss on
global welfare as well as the uncertainty of the conservation costs hampers an
economically efficient approach to diversity conservation. This study wants to
contribute to the development and the conceptualizing of more efficient
conservation strategies. These are preconditions for effective utilization of
PGRF A for food security and a productive world agriculture in the long run.
Because of its generally assumed decline, the call for conservation of
biodiversity and agrobiodiversity is implemented by a vast number of
conservation activities. Although a decline in numbers of species (biodiversity)
and crop varieties (agrobiodiversity) has been ascertained, the extinction of
genetic diversity in agriculturally relevant crop varieties is not based on reliable
estimations at present. The determinants of the loss of diversity and the underlying
economic causes are highlighted. Although human-induced habitat modification,
fragmentation, and destruction determine the decline in biodiversity, human
activities were the precondition for the rise of agrobiodiversity through breeding
as well as for its decline due to the abandonment of landraces and old varieties. In
addition to socio-economic factors, the lack of adequate and sufficient policies,
institutional arrangements, and markets for genetic resources hinder the
internalization of the existing and expected social values of genetic resources.
Ex situ conservation, defined as storing PGRF A outside their natural or
traditional ecosystems, has comparative advantages in realizing two of the three
conservation objectives: freezing PGRF A for future use and improving the
accessibility of conserved genetic resources. The in situ conservation, defined as
the conservation of PGRF A in the locations in which the material has evolved, is,
however, necessary for further adaptation of PGRF A to changing environmental
conditions.
The call to conserve the maximum of genetic diversity is based on its valuation
from a purely environmental-ethical point of view. In contrast, the economic
valuation of PGRF A based on anthropocentric grounds encounters valuation
problems, because of the intergenerational existence and the problem of
intermittent scarcity and irreversible loss. Consequently, conventional instruments
are of limited use when it comes to assessing genetic resources.
No remuneration has been offered so far; either for farmers who are
maintaining PGRF A diversity in their fields ("in situ conservation") or for the ex
situ conservators who are involved in the first processing of genetically coded
information derived from PGRF A. The conservation system and an optimal level
of agrobiodiversity will, however, only be sustained if the incentives are
Incomplete information and the uncertainty of the effects of PGRF A loss on
global welfare as well as the uncertainty of the conservation costs hampers an
economically efficient approach to diversity conservation. This study wants to
contribute to the development and the conceptualizing of more efficient
conservation strategies. These are preconditions for effective utilization of
PGRF A for food security and a productive world agriculture in the long run.
Because of its generally assumed decline, the call for conservation of
biodiversity and agrobiodiversity is implemented by a vast number of
conservation activities. Although a decline in numbers of species (biodiversity)
and crop varieties (agrobiodiversity) has been ascertained, the extinction of
genetic diversity in agriculturally relevant crop varieties is not based on reliable
estimations at present. The determinants of the loss of diversity and the underlying
economic causes are highlighted. Although human-induced habitat modification,
fragmentation, and destruction determine the decline in biodiversity, human
activities were the precondition for the rise of agrobiodiversity through breeding
as well as for its decline due to the abandonment of landraces and old varieties. In
addition to socio-economic factors, the lack of adequate and sufficient policies,
institutional arrangements, and markets for genetic resources hinder the
internalization of the existing and expected social values of genetic resources.
Ex situ conservation, defined as storing PGRF A outside their natural or
traditional ecosystems, has comparative advantages in realizing two of the three
conservation objectives: freezing PGRF A for future use and improving the
accessibility of conserved genetic resources. The in situ conservation, defined as
the conservation of PGRF A in the locations in which the material has evolved, is,
however, necessary for further adaptation of PGRF A to changing environmental
conditions.
The call to conserve the maximum of genetic diversity is based on its valuation
from a purely environmental-ethical point of view. In contrast, the economic
valuation of PGRF A based on anthropocentric grounds encounters valuation
problems, because of the intergenerational existence and the problem of
intermittent scarcity and irreversible loss. Consequently, conventional instruments
are of limited use when it comes to assessing genetic resources.
No remuneration has been offered so far; either for farmers who are
maintaining PGRF A diversity in their fields ("in situ conservation") or for the ex
situ conservators who are involved in the first processing of genetically coded
information derived from PGRF A. The conservation system and an optimal level
of agrobiodiversity will, however, only be sustained if the incentives are