‘Breeds at Risk: Criteria and Classification’

London seminar 16-17 February 2010

The effective and cohesive implementation of programme for the conservation of FAnGR has been impeded for many years by the lack of harmonisation on the definition of thresholds for endangerment factors. It was identified as a serious problem in 1994 at the RBI global conference in Canada (1994) in the Rachel Ella Nussbaum Memorial lecture and had remained on the agenda ever since with little evidence of progress. The activities of several NGOs were compromised by the variation between national and regional/international standards.

RBI, in conjunction with ERFP, convened a two-day seminar in London in February 2010 in an attempt to resolve the problems and seek to achieve harmonisation. Lawrence Alderson was Chairman of the meeting which also was attended by Andreas Georgoudis, Ihsan Soysal and Maija Pontaga.

The question of different breed endangerment definitions across Europe had also been raised at a recent EAAP conference and, as it was considered a timely initiative to organise a symposium on coordination of standards for breed endangerment, representatives of FAO also participated.
A copy of the report is available on www.lawrencealderson.com
The discussion is ongoing, and further refinements are likely, but the report sets out the framework which is likely to be the basis for standardisation.