Description
A first national workshop on community seed banks was organized by Local Initiatives for Biodiversity, Research and Development (LI-BIRD) from 14 to 15 June 2012, with the aim to bring community seed bank practitioners together to develop a common understanding on the concept (and practices), elaborate a typology in the Nepalese context, and identify future activities. Other specific objectives were: to review the working modalities of community seed banks in Nepal, to explore ex situ and in situ links and related policy issues, to identify challenges and opportunities of community seed banks, and to promote future collaboration and networking among relevant organizations in Nepal.
The workshop brought together around 40 participants from farming community, NGO/INGO, high level government officials and scientists from the national genebank, LI-BIRD, USC Canada Asia, Oxfam and Bioversity International. In the workshop, community seed bank practitioners shared their experiences and lessons learned. This report summarizes the main issues discussed. Workshop organizers are planning a workshop proceeding publication that will include several of the detailed presentations made during the workshop.
