Representatives from more than 60 countries gathered in Rome today for a United Nations-backed meeting to promote the international treaty considered essential for the conservation and use of the world"s threatened plant genetic resources.
The International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources was adopted by the Conference of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in 2001 to facilitate international cooperation and the fair exchange of genetic resources. The treaty"s Benefit-sharing Fund (BSF) was created to support poor farmers in developing countries to conserve and adapt to climate change the most important food crops. (...)

The article:
http://www.speroforum.com/site/article.asp?id=44798&t=UN-backed+meeting+on+plant+genetic+resources+opens+in+Rome

About the Meeting:
http://www.itpgrfa.net/International/content/countries-meet-boost-treaty-plant-genetic-resources

The International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources website:
http://www.planttreaty.org/index_en.htm

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Wild food crop relatives to be 'rescued':

http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_9273000/9273567.stm