BIONET A BIODIVERSITY NETWORK TO PRESERVE ENDANGERED SPECIES

When we talk about biodiversity we think of pandas or the Amazon. But many forget that a certain "simplification" which occurred after the Second World War onwards, especially for the agricultural territories not only of the Veneto, Po and Italian regions, also linked to an evolution of agriculture in an entrepreneurial sense, led to the compromise of animal and vegetable complexity historically present on our territories.

The network created by the Veneto Region , thanks to the Rural Development Program (PSR), has the specific purpose of conserving "animal and plant biodiversity ". An interesting project that sees the involvement of Veneto Agricoltura , but also that of conservation centers in the Veneto region and numerous farmers / breeders defined as " custodians " of biodiversity.

Specifically, the Regional Agency is involved in two important measures of the RDP, Rural Development Program: the first (Measure 10.2.1) provides for the implementation of conservation and sustainable use of genetic resources in agriculture; while the second (Measure 16.5.1) works for the realization of collective environmental projects functional to the priorities set by the RDP itself.

Among the various ongoing projects, one of which Veneto Agriculture is coordinator and which sees seven Professional Agricultural Institutes (one per province), some of which recognized as conservation centers, deserves to be mentioned. Primary purposes are precisely the activities of conservation of local genetic resources of agricultural and food interest at risk of extinction or genetic erosion , as well as their registration in the appropriate registers and the sharing between the partners of a regulation defining the methods of transfer of genetic resources in order to implement the so-called "dynamic" conservation system , envisaged by Law 184 of 2015. What is it about? This system is based on the simultaneous conservation of genetic resources by two distinct types of conservation structures . The former, which already exist for many of the genetic resources currently collected, are represented by the " Conservation Centers "; the latter are called " Farmers and Breeders Caretakers ", that is to say the actors called to contribute to the conservation of the genetic resource through cultivation or breeding on the farm, according to the normal conditions to allow their adaptation to the " terroir " intended as set of factors such as cultivation techniques , the soil and climate environment , the knowledge and culture of a territory .

Today the conservation system implemented by the BIONET project provides exclusively for the conservation of animal species and plant varieties in the Conservation Centers. However, by 2022 , the year the project ends, the full involvement of the " Farmers and Breeders Keepers " is also expected.

In the meantime, important aspects useful to the objective of the project have already been clarified such as: the implications related to the legislation concerning the marketing of seeds or the implementation of the registry of poultry .

For their part, the Agricultural Institutes involved have carried out a search for horticultural accessions typical of their respective provinces and, as soon as possible (the process has been slowed down by the restrictions due to Covid19), the first cultivations useful for the characterization of the different varieties will begin.

The training will take place through the learning of the " Biodiversity Friend " certification standard which is one of the most tested in the sector in Italy.

Unfortunately, as mentioned, due to the emergency for Covid19, the training activity envisaged by the project has also slowed down considerably. However, several " call conferences " have been planned which involve the involvement of representatives of the working groups, partner subjects, experts, etc. precisely to allow comparison in this important phase of the project.