The Nordic Genetic Resource Center (NordGen;
Scandinavian: Nordiskt Genresurscenter) is a plant, farm animal and forest conservation, gene resource guardian, and sustainable use organization under and primarily financed by the
Nordic Council of Ministers
The Nordic Council of Ministers is an intergovernmental forum established after the Helsinki Treaty. The purpose of the Nordic Council of Ministers is to complement the Nordic Council and promote Nordic cooperation.
Structure
The governme ...
, and is headquartered in
Alnarp
Alnarp () is a village and university campus in Lomma Municipality, Skåne County, Sweden, lying between Lund and Malmö.
The first written mention of Alnarp is from 1325. In 1674 it became the official residence of the governor-general of Scania ...
, near
Malmö
Malmö (, ; da, Malmø ) is the largest city in the Swedish county (län) of Scania (Skåne). It is the third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the sixth-largest city in the Nordic region, with a municipal populat ...
, in southern
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
. NordGen's primary mission is "securing the broad diversity of genetic resources linked to food and agriculture" through "conservation and sustainable use, solid documentation and information work and international agreements".
History
In January 2008, as a culmination of a quarter century of cooperation by
Nordic nations on genetic resource conservation, NordGen was created from a merger among 3 organizations, the Nordic Gene Bank, the Nordic Gene Bank Farm Animals and the Nordic Council for Forest Reproductive Material. Besides NordGen as the new parent organization and primarily successor to the Nordic Gene Bank, NordGen Plants is in Alnarp, near Malmö, in southern Sweden, NordGen Farm Animals and NordGen Forest are in
Ã…s, near
Oslo
Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...
, in
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...
.
NordGen notes that the high cost of its missions prompted a joint Nordic nation solution, while each nation simultaneously maintains its own national programs as well.
Projects
NordGen leads, participates in, and collaborates with genebanks, research organizations, pre-breeding centers and breeding centers at the global level as well as in the Nordic region. NordGen has extensive
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
Food and Agriculture Organization
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)french: link=no, Organisation des Nations unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture; it, Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite per l'Alimentazione e l'Agricoltura is an intern ...
(FAO),
Bioversity International
Bioversity International is a global research-for-development organization that delivers scientific evidence, management practices and policy options to use and safeguard agricultural biodiversity to attain global food and nutrition security, wor ...
and the
Crop Trust
The Crop Trust, officially known as the Global Crop Diversity Trust, is an international nonprofit organization with a secretariat in Bonn, Germany. Its mission is to conserve and make available the world's crop diversity for food security.
Establ ...
collaborations.
Here are key NordGen international projects:
Svalbard Global Seed Vault
The
Svalbard Global Seed Vault
The Svalbard Global Seed Vault ( no, Svalbard globale frøhvelv) is a secure backup facility for the world's crop diversity on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen in the remote Arctic Svalbard archipelago. The Seed Vault provides long-term stora ...
(SGSV) owned by the government of Norway, was inspired by a safety store NordGen had placed in a former Svalbard coal mine.
Food and Agriculture Organization
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)french: link=no, Organisation des Nations unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture; it, Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite per l'Alimentazione e l'Agricoltura is an intern ...
(FAO) and
Bioversity International
Bioversity International is a global research-for-development organization that delivers scientific evidence, management practices and policy options to use and safeguard agricultural biodiversity to attain global food and nutrition security, wor ...
approached Norwegian authorities to open a comprehensive facility and the Svalbard Global Seed Vault began, in 2008, to be the safety store of Earth's most important crops for human and human-mediated agriculture and consumption.
The Vault is managed through a tripartite agreement among the
Norwegian Ministry of Agriculture and Food
The Royal Norwegian Ministry of Agriculture and Food ( no, Landbruks- og matdepartementet) is a Norwegian ministry established on 17 February 1900, and is responsible for agriculture, forestry and food in Norway. It is since January 2019 led by ...
, the
Crop Trust
The Crop Trust, officially known as the Global Crop Diversity Trust, is an international nonprofit organization with a secretariat in Bonn, Germany. Its mission is to conserve and make available the world's crop diversity for food security.
Establ ...
and NordGen. Nordgen provides operational management and Vault deposits in collaboration with depositing genebanks and the Crop Trust which co-funds Vault operations and funds seed shipment from developing countries to the Vault in Svalbard.
European collaboration (Plants)
The
European Programme for Plant Genetic Resources
European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to:
In general
* ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe
** Ethnic groups in Europe
** Demographics of Europe
** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe ...
(ECPGR) in which NordGen participates is a European gene bank collaboration whose working groups include the development of
AEGIS
The aegis ( ; grc, αἰγίς ''aigÃs''), as stated in the ''Iliad'', is a device carried by Athena and Zeus, variously interpreted as an animal skin or a shield and sometimes featuring the head of a Gorgon. There may be a connection with a d ...
, a virtual gene bank which serves as a tool for guaranteeing, rationalizing and coordinating European gene bank material quality.
Nordic research on climate change (Farm Animals)
AnGR-NordicNET is a Nordic research network being established by five Nordic nations as a knowledge base for decision makers and fostering of strategies regarding climate change effects on farm animal genetic resources.
North West Russia (Plants)
The
N.I. Vavilov Institute of Plant Industry (VIR), a Russian national genebank, cooperates with NordGen, as the VIR preserves plant genetic resources salient to Nordic ecozones, such as traditional landraces of all collected Nordic crop groups prior to NordGen's existence.
The Baltic countries (Plants)
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain.
The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...
region plant genetic resources are the subject of sustainable conservation workshop series led by NordGen.
References
External links
Official site
{{Authority control
Gene banks
Seed associations
Biorepositories
Plant conservation
Rare breed conservation
Agricultural organizations based in Sweden