Present socio-economic value The importance of farm animal genetic diversity and objectives for conservation

Kor Oldenbroek 24 Utilisation and conservation of farm animal genetic resources which they evolved or are now normally found. For cultural historic reasons only a few animals of a breed are kept in zoos or farm parks were they fulil a museum role. he costs of this type of conservation are low, but the breed is kept outside its environment and further adaptation to this environment is impossible. Ex situ cryo conservation, deined as the storage of gametes of embryos in liquid nitrogen. An overview of the literature Hiemstra et al., 2006 indicates that for most farm animal species it is possible to cryoconserve semen and realise high or acceptable levels of conception ater thawing the semen and inseminating females. For many farm animal species frozen embryos can be used to create live ofspring. Also, developments have been made in freezing techniques for oocytes. For all animal species DNA-storage and storage of somatic cells is a well-known technology. However, techniques like nuclear transfer should be developed further and more eicient in order to use these types of storage to regenerate animals ater conservation. In practice, the diference between in situ conservation and ex situ in vivo conservation can be rather vague and only a clear distinction can be made as : in vivo the combination of in situ and ex situ in vivo and in vitro ex situ conservation. Integration of in situ and ex situ methods can provide a powerful conservation strategy, as we will see in chapters 2 and 8.

8. Stakeholders for in vivo and in vitro conservation programs

At the global level many stakeholders are involved in the conservation of farm animal genetic resource: national governments, institutes for research and education including universities, non governmental organisations, breeders’ associations, farmers and pastoralists, part time farmers and hobbyists, and breeding companies. he following section provides a brief overview of the role of the various stakeholders.

8.1. National governments

National governments provide the legal base for utilisation and conservation programmes. his is done under legislation relating to the protection of biodiversity or under legislation regulating the management of farm animal genetic resources, of livestock production and of animal breeding. he national governments should be heavily involved in the development of national strategies for management, utilisation and conservation of farm animal genetic resources and they should provide funding for implementing national strategies chapter 9. •