Nordic/ECPGR Joint Workshop THE CURRENT SITUATION OF CWR IN ALBANIA ALBAN IBRALIU AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY OF TIRANA 19-22 September 2016, Vilnius, Lithuania
Albania 2 Population (2015): 4.000 000 Area : 28 713 km2 The Republic of Albania, is a country in Southeastern Europe which borders Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, Macedonia to the east, and Greece to the south and southeast.
Albania represents one of the European countries with a very rich flora A high landscape variation A favorite climate conditions, land of subtropical climate to continental climate inland of area. Geographic position in Mediterranean regional and in Balkan Peninsula. Very rich flora with 3250 plant species or about 30 % of European Flora. (Flora of Albania, No.1 1994) 30 endemic species and about 180 subendemic species. (The Red Book. Flora. 1995) Needs to give a special value for rare, endangered and relict species too (10 % of Albanian Flora) (The Red Book. Flora. 1995)
CWR in Albania About 230 different wild plant species are found as priority list of CWR or WFP species in Albania. Some of them are well-known by the local population, which have a long tradition in collecting them either for individual and family use or for sale.
Protected Areas in Albania 5 Category No of Protected area Area in ha I (Strict Nature Reserves/Scientifc reserves) 2 4800 II (National Parks 16 210501 III (Natural Monuments) 6 IV(Regional Natural Park) 22 127180 V (Protected Landscape) 5 95864 VI (Protected Area of Managed Natural Resources) 4 18245 Total Protected Areas 98180 Protected Areas are 3.42% Territory of Albania
Promoting in-situ conservation and management of crop wild relatives and wild food plants 6 Protected areas have strongly increased over the last decades in Albania In-situ conservation in Albania is undertaken in national parks and protected areas, which in total amounts more than 90 thousand hectares. The main function of these parks and protected areas is the preservation of flora and fauna in general, especially the forest flora (trees and shrub species).
Inventory of CWR or WFP occurring in national parks and protected areas 7 In Albania a comprehensive inventory of CWR or WFP occurring in national parks and protected areas is presently missing, and, in general, the management plans of national parks and protected areas do not specifically address issues related to the conservation and management of crop wild relatives and wild food plants. Rough estimations indicate that there are a total of 130 CWR species in Albania (www.cwrdiversity.org)
List of 56 Genus of CWR and WFP in Albania 8 1Aegilops 29Lens 2 Agrostis 30Linum 3Allium 31Lolium 4Arbutus 32Lotus 5Asparagus 33Lupinus 6Astragalus 34Malus 7Avena 35Medicago 8Barbarea 36Melilotus 9Beta 37Olea 10Brassica 38Onobrychis 11Carthamus 39Phalaris 12Celtis 40Phleum 13Cornus 41Pistacia 14Corylus 42Pisum 15Crataegus 43Poa 16Dactylis 44Prunus 17Daucus 45Pyrus 18 Dioscorea 46Raphanus 19Diplotaxis 47Ribes 20Festuca 48Rorippa 21Festuca 49Rubus 22Ficus 50Secale 23Fragaria 51Sinapis 24Hordeum 52Sorbus 25Juglans 53Trifolium 26Juniperus 54Vaccinium 27Lactuca 55Vicia 28Lathyrus 56Vitis
CWR species or WFP in Albania 9 gilops Agrostis Allium Arbutus Asparagus Astragalus Avena Barbarea ta Brassica Carthamus Celtis Cornus Corylus Crataegus Dactylis ucus Dioscorea Diplotaxis Festuca Festuca Ficus Fragaria Hordeum glans Juniperus Lactuca Lathyrus Lens Linum Lolium Lotus inus Malus Medicago Melilotus Olea Onobrychis Phalaris Phleum tacia Pisum Poa Prunus Pyrus Raphanus Ribes Rorippa bus Secale Sinapis Sorbus Trifolium Vaccinium Vicia Vitis 38 CWR species and 18 WFP species are conserved in-situ in protected areas in the country, 14 and 11 of which are in areas with management plans, respectively.
Sustaining and expanding ex-situ conservation of CWR in Albanian Gen Bank Code: ALB017; Institute: Albania Gene Bank Albanian Gen Bank at Agricultural University of Tirana, established in 1996, is National Coordinator Institutions for PGR. Gene bank of Albania provides and practises realization of the tasks resulting from National Programme on Conservation of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture and Regulation No. /2008 with co-operation ATTC centres and local focal points where represented more than 4000 accessions
ALBANIA NATIONAL INVENTORY (NI) Collections CWR in Albanian Gen Bank 11 ALBANIA NATIONAL INVENTORY for CWR or WFP : Accessions summary by genus: Nr Genus Accessions 1 Aegilops 34 2Hordeum 2 3Arbutus 1 4 Corylus 14 5 Crataegus 2 6 Juglans 36 7 Juniperus 5 8 Malus 12 9Olea 36 10Rubus 1 11Pistacia lentiscus 6 12Vaccinium 11 13Prunus 66 14Punica 7 15 Pyrus 15 16Vitis vinifera sylvestris 6 Total 254
12 Albanian Gen Bank ex situ accessions of CWR 66 7 15 6 34 2 1 14 2 36 11 6 1 Aegilops Hordeum Arbutus Corylus Crataegus Juglans Juniperus Malus Olea Rubus Pistacia lentiscus Vaccinium Prunus Punica Pyrus Vitis vinifera sylvestris 36 12 5 6 CWR species and 10 WFP species are conserved in ex situ conservation in Albanian gen Bank
In situ conservation and development 13 Although national parks and protected areas have management plans, currently, these plans do not address specific needs associated to the CWR and WFP conserved. Nevertheless, the management of these areas indirectly contributes to the preservation of these plant groups. During the past years there have been no activities related to the implementation of management practices, involvement of local communities or implementation of plans to encourage public participation on in-situ conservation of CWR and WFP.
Gaps and needs 14 Gaps: Lack of survey and inventory of CWR in National Parks
Gaps and needs 15 Needs: National strategy that addresses CWR and on farm management Management plans for CWR in National Parks and Protected Areas Evaluation of genetic diversity of CWR Monitoring of genetic erosion Research and Collection Strategies
Some of our activities and Project for CWR /WFP and MAPs. 16 Regional Project Conservation and characterization of oregano (Origanum vulgare L.) wild populations in Europe, 2010-2011, financed by Biodiversity International.. Regional Project Genetic Structure of Dalmatian Sage (Salvia officinalis L.) Populations: A Model for a Collaborative Research on MAP Genetic Resources, 2009-2010, financed by SEEDNet Regional Project Inventory of local populations of Yellow Gentiana (Gentiana lutea L.) in South-Eastern Europe, 2007-2008, financed by SEEDNet. Collecting and chemical structure of wild population of Sidertis raeseri in Gramozi mauntain. Cooperation AUT and Institute Josif Pancic Collecting and Study of genetic diversity of Salvia officinalis in North of Albania, cooperation AUT and Pharmacy Faculty of Skopje Collecting and Chemical structure of Vacinium myrtillus in Albania. Cooperation AUT and Institute Josif Pancic Study of genetic diversity of Origanum vulgare in Albania. (we just starting a breeding programme to Origanum). Cooperation AUT and Pharmacy Faculty of Skopje Regional Project Strengthening the Regional Scientific-Research Potential by Studying Medicinal and Aromatic Plants from the Sharr/Šar and Korab Mountains, partners:austria, Kosovo, Albania and Macedonia
17 Thank you for your attention! Alban Ibraliu Department of Plant Science and Technology Faculty of Agriculture and Environment Agricultural University of Tirana Koder Kamez 1029, Tirana, Albania Email: albanibraliu@ubt.edu.al