The European Cooperative Programme for Plant Genetic Resources (ECPGR) (formerly "European Cooperative Programme for Crop Genetic Resources Networks - ECP/GR) was founded in 1980 based on the recommendations of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Genebank Committee of the European Association for Research on Plant Breeding (EUCARPIA).
ECPGR is a collaborative programme among most European countries, aiming at ensuring the long-term conservation and facilitating the utilization of plant genetic resources in Europe.
The Programme, financed by the participating countries and coordinated by a Secretariat, operates through Working Groups dealing with groups of crops or with general themes related to plant genetic resources.
ECPGR is guided by a Steering Committee (SC), consisting of the National Coordinators of the member countries. The SC nominates an Executive Committee (ExCo) composed of five persons, to plan and execute the ECPGR activities, as decided upon by the SC.
Related Information
Strategic documents
- Plant Genetic Resources Strategy for Europe, ECPGR (2021)
- ECPGR communication and public relations strategy - Approved by the Steering Committee, January 2020 (63,8 KB)
- ECPGR Concept for on-farm conservation and management of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture - Endorsed by the ECPGR Steering Committee in January 2017 (723,4 KB)
- ECPGR Concept for in situ conservation of crop wild relatives in Europe - Endorsed by the ECPGR Steering Committee in March 2015 (1,5 MB)
- A Strategic Framework for the Implementation of a European Genebank Integrated System (AEGIS). A Policy Guide (2009) (971,3 KB)
- Establishment of the European PGRFA Evaluation Network (EVA)
Rules of procedures and terms of reference
- ECPGR Phase XI (2024-2028) – ECPGR Rules of Procedures and Terms of Reference for Operational Bodies and Mechanisms
- ECPGR Phase IX (2014-2018) and Phase X (2019-2023) – Goal, Rules of Procedures and Terms of Reference for the operational bodies (Approved by the Steering Committee - Revised second edition, February 2018)
Memoranda of Understanding (MoU)
- Global Crop Diversity Trust - February 2020 (see here)
- ESA (now Euroseeds) - May 2018 (see here)
- FAO International Treaty on PGRFA - December 2016 (see here)
Public awareness documents
- AEGIS Leaflet: A European Genebank Integrated System (August 2022) [PDF]
- ECPGR Leaflet: ECPGR Phase XI (September 2023) [PDF]
- EVA Leaflet: EVA - The European Evaluation Network [PDF]
Publications
- Kotni, P., van Hintum, T., Maggioni, L., Oppermann, M., & Weise, S. (2022). EURISCO update 2023: the European Search Catalogue for Plant Genetic Resources, a pillar for documentation of genebank material. In Nucleic Acids Research (Vol. 51, Issue D1, pp. D1465–D1469). Oxford University Press (OUP). https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkac852
- Weise S, Oppermann M, Maggioni L, Hintum Th van. 2017. EURISCO: The European search catalogue for plant genetic resources. Nucleic Acids Research 45 (D1):D1003-D1008 (published online 2016 https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkw755)
- Maggioni L, Engels J. 2014. Networking for plant genetic resources (571,2 KB). Pan European Networks: Science & Technology 10: 285-297