The list of endangered livestock breeds and cultivated plant varieties covers no fewer than 530 pages.
In 1993 the Swiss Pro Specie Rara Foundation published a study based on a survey of livestock breeds throughout the Alps in which about a hundred endangered breeds and types were identified. In order to monitor the situation in the long term and be able to recognise negative developments at an early stage, the decision was taken to establish the Monitoring Institute for Rare Breeds and Seeds in Europe.
In 1999 the Monitoring Institute was asked to revise and update the original study and to add a section on cultivated plants. The work was commissioned under the patronage of CIPRA International and financed by the Bristol Foundation (Zurich/CH). The decision to update the study was taken in line with the Convention on Biological Diversity (Rio de Janeiro, 1992). To implement the Rio convention in agriculture, a global plan of action was approved in 1996, imposing a duty on all the countries of the Alps to protect genetic resources in agriculture and to draw up National Action Plans.
In view of the size of the study it has been designed as a reference work in two volumes. A summary in five languages - the four languages of the Alps plus English - is available as a pdf file. The printed version includes a CD with the complete text in English and German.
Info: http://www.monitoring-inst.de/projects.htm