Ecoregions with crop wild relatives are less well protected

Abstract

In situ conservation of crop wild relatives (CWR) is recognised as an important factor in maintaining global food security; however, until now there has been no systematic global assessment of the protection status of this vital source of agrobiodiversity. CWR are not spread evenly across the world, but are concentrated in relatively small regions often referred to as ‘centres of food crop diversity’. To assess their global conservation status, we compared levels of habitat protection and habitat loss in centres of crop diversity against global averages for terrestrial ecoregions.

Habitat protection in 34 of the world's 825 ecoregions with the highest levels of agrobiodiversity is significantly lower than the global average - 29 ecoregions had less than 10% protection and six had less than 1% of their area under protection. Some of these ecoregions are also undergoing rapid losses in natural habitat. We outline the importance of protected areas in conserving CWR. In light of the findings, we recommend increased commitments by governments, conservation organizations and the agricultural industry to improve in situ protection of CWR in the world's centres of crop diversity in order to protect agrobiodiveristy and improve future food security.