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The importance of gene banks

The conservation of intra- and inter-racial genetic diversity in gene banks (ex-situ) is a complementary strategy to in-situ conservation to maintain a wide range of genetic resources for future breeding and research. It is important to safeguard the genetic diversity of farm animals (local and traditional breeds) for future generations, particularly in the global context of food and nutritional security and climate change.

EUGENA, the European network of gene banks for animal genetic resources

The European Genebank Network for AnGR (EUGENA) aims to support the ex-situ programme the conservation and sustainable use of animal genetic resources, and to facilitate the implementation of the FAO Global Plan of Action at national and pan-European level.

Exchanging knowledge and experience and facilitating access to information on gene bank collections in Europe are the main objectives of EUGENA.

The development of EUGENA was initiated by the ERFP in 2016, and since then the network has steadily grown in number of participating countries, membership and dissemination of information on the collections.
EUGENA's activities are set according to a Terms of Reference (ToR) and the network is governed by the ERFP General Assembly.