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In dit artikel wordt beschreven hoe het gaat met de Nederlandse rassen en wat de omvang van de populaties is. Daarnaast wordt de achtergrond van het mondiale beleid geschetst en wordt informatie over unieke eigenschappen van een ras gegeven

Onderzoekers van het Centrum Genetische Bronnen melden dat er wereldwijd runderrassen verdwijnen, dat binnen een aantal veelgebruikte rassen inteelt een dreigend probleem vormt, en dat de genetische diversiteit wereldwijd onder druk staat

Livestock production has contributed to food security and economic development for thousands of years. Adaptation to wide range of environmental conditions and artificial selection has led to the development of numerous indigenous breeds that are part of the wealth of diversity in agriculture. They are producing a wide range of products for local and domestic consumption as well as for international trade. Livestock are for many local communities, invaluable sources of food and other products and essential sources of income. Maintaining the diversity of breeds in various species of domestic animals enables farmers and breeders to respond to ever changing consumer demands as well as changing production conditions, especially in light of climate change. No one can predict future demands and production conditions, and thus, maintaining the greatest diversity of animal genetic resources provides an insurance policy to enable necessary adaptation. Lack of appreciation for the need to maintain genetic diversity or inadequate farmer and breeder support programmes has resulted in the rapid global erosion of local breeds. Greater effort is required to stem this erosion.

Livestock production has contributed to food security and economic development for thousands of years. Adaptation to wide range of environmental conditions and artificial selection has led to the development of numerous indigenous breeds that are part of the wealth of diversity in agriculture. They are producing a wide range of products for local and domestic consumption as well as for international trade. Livestock are for many local communities, invaluable sources of food and other products and essential sources of income. Maintaining the diversity of breeds in various species of domestic animals enables farmers and breeders to respond to ever changing consumer demands as well as changing production conditions, especially in light of climate change. No one can predict future demands and production conditions, and thus, maintaining the greatest diversity of animal genetic resources provides an insurance policy to enable necessary adaptation. Lack of appreciation for the need to maintain genetic diversity or inadequate farmer and breeder support programmes has resulted in the rapid global erosion of local breeds. Greater effort is required to stem this erosion.

The sustainable use of farm animal genetic resources is connected with the recognition of their contribution to the society and the environment and the assessment of the threats they are facing. The category of the heritage breeds, which are genetically distinct, geographically concentrated, adapted to their environment, commercially farmed to contribute to the local economy were considered in the frame of the HERITAGESHEEP project. The aim of this project was to deliver the potential of the heritage sheep breeds for a sustainable future for medium to low input production systems, which support local rural communities throughout Europe. This was achieved by addressing the conservation of these breeds, defining the current and future threats and developing new uses and markets for products.

Which policies and strategies are required to successfully maintain our European Farm Animal Genetic Resources? The European local cattle populations were a target in the EURECA project, co-funded by the European Commission (EU AGRI GENRES 870/04). The general aim was to better understand the state of the breeds, to identify factors that contribute to their success or failure, and to recommend decision-making tools for development of ambitious and sound strategies and policies

Op de boerderij wordt de diversiteit van het leven bedreigd. Steeds minder dieren krijgen steeds meer nakomelingen. Een gebrek aan genetische variatie in het gevolg. Door inteelt kunnen gezondheidsproblemen ontstaan, en ongemerkt kunnen bepaalde eigenschappen verdwijnen. Ook de variatie in ons landschap en zelfs op ons bord verdwijnt. Dit cahier biedt een helder overzicht van de stand van de wetenschap rond het behoud van zeldzame huisdierrassen.

The sustainable use of farm animal genetic resources is connected with the recognition of their contribution to the society and the environment and the assessment of the threats they are facing. The category of the heritage breeds, which are genetically distinct, geographically concentrated, adapted to their environment, commercially farmed to contribute to the local economy were considered in the frame of the HERITAGESHEEP project. The aim of this project was to deliver the potential of the heritage sheep breeds for a sustainable future for medium to low input production systems, which support local rural communities throughout Europe. This was achieved by addressing the conservation of these breeds, defining the current and future threats and developing new uses and markets for products.

Op de boerderij wordt de diversiteit van het leven bedreigd. Steeds minder dieren krijgen steeds meer nakomelingen. Een gebrek aan genetische variatie in het gevolg. Door inteelt kunnen gezondheidsproblemen ontstaan, en ongemerkt kunnen bepaalde eigenschappen verdwijnen. Ook de variatie in ons landschap en zelfs op ons bord verdwijnt. Dit cahier biedt een helder overzicht van de stand van de wetenschap rond het behoud van zeldzame huisdierrassen.

In dit artikel wordt beschreven hoe het gaat met de Nederlandse rassen en wat de omvang van de populaties is. Daarnaast wordt de achtergrond van het mondiale beleid geschetst en wordt informatie over unieke eigenschappen van een ras gegeven

Prioritizing livestock breeds for conservation needs to incorporate both genetic and non-genetic aspects important for the survival of the breeds. Here, we apply a maximum-utility-strategy to prioritize 14 traditional Ethiopian sheep breeds based on their threat status, contributions to farmer livelihoods (current breed merits) and contributions to genetic diversity. Contributions of the breeds to genetic diversity were quantified using Eding's marker-estimated kinship approaches. Non-genetic aspects included threats (e.g. low population size, low preferences by farmers) and current merits (economic, ecological and cultural merits). Threat analysis identified eight of the 14 breeds as threatened. Analysis of current merits showed that sub-alpine and arid-lowland breeds contribute most to farmer livelihoods in comparison to other breeds. The highest contribution to the genetic diversity conserved was from the Simien breed. Simien showed high between-breed (low between-breed kinship = 0.04) as well as high within-breed diversity (low within-breed kinship = 0.09 and high H E = 0.73 and allelic richness = 6.83). We combined the results on threat status, current breed merits and contributions to genetic diversity to produce a ranking of the 14 breeds for conservation purposes. Our results balance the trade-offs between conserving breeds as insurance against future uncertainties and current sustainable utilization. The ranking of breeds provides a basis for conservation strategies for Ethiopian sheep and contributes to a regional or global conservation plan.

Onderzoekers van het Centrum Genetische Bronnen melden dat er wereldwijd runderrassen verdwijnen, dat binnen een aantal veelgebruikte rassen inteelt een dreigend probleem vormt, en dat de genetische diversiteit wereldwijd onder druk staat

The genetic diversity comprised in farm animal species and breeds is an important resource in livestock systems. For several reasons, within the different species used for food production, only a few breeds are developed towards high-output breeds fitting in high-input systems. In this process many breeds are set aside from the food producing livestock systems. These breeds will be faced with extinction unless new functions for these breeds are found. This is a real threat for the genetic diversity within species. This book is intended to give insight into the issues of the utilisation and conservation of farm animal genetic resources towards a broad group of readers interested in these subjects. The insight is presented as applications of population, molecular and quantitative genetics that can be used to take appropriate decisions in utilisation and conservation programmes. The first two chapters discuss the decisions to be made in utilisation and conservation. Chapter 3 surveys the different ways in which the diversity we observe within a species can be characterised. Chapter 4 illustrates recent results using this theory for utilisation and conservation purposes. Chapters 5, 6 and 7 give theoretical backgrounds necessary to make decisions and chapters 8 and 9 present the operation and practical implications of selection and conservation schemes

The genetic diversity comprised in farm animal species and breeds is an important resource in livestock systems. For several reasons, within the different species used for food production, only a few breeds are developed towards high-output breeds fitting in high-input systems. In this process many breeds are set aside from the food producing livestock systems. These breeds will be faced with extinction unless new functions for these breeds are found. This is a real threat for the genetic diversity within species. This book is intended to give insight into the issues of the utilisation and conservation of farm animal genetic resources towards a broad group of readers interested in these subjects. The insight is presented as applications of population, molecular and quantitative genetics that can be used to take appropriate decisions in utilisation and conservation programmes. The first two chapters discuss the decisions to be made in utilisation and conservation. Chapter 3 surveys the different ways in which the diversity we observe within a species can be characterised. Chapter 4 illustrates recent results using this theory for utilisation and conservation purposes. Chapters 5, 6 and 7 give theoretical backgrounds necessary to make decisions and chapters 8 and 9 present the operation and practical implications of selection and conservation schemes

The degree to which a breed is exposed to becoming extinct, i.e. its degree of endangerment (DE), is an essential information to orient conservation policies. Assessing DE properly is a difficult task, as numerous factors are involved. Several methods are currently used in Europe and the paper first discusses the development of some objective criteria to promote the creation of a uniform system. Both demographic and genetic aspects of population decline are considered. It is proposed to estimate the number of years needed to reach a critical population size, which is also a measure of time available to evaluate options and undertake action before extinction. Thresholds of endangerment for both the demographic and genetic aspects are discussed. In addition, the population growth rate of 110 European cattle breeds is analysed. Growth rate is normally distributed with a mean of 1.00 (S.D. 0.09, range 0.77-1.27). Population size at the beginning of the analysed period and country of breeding affect growth rate significantlyThe degree to which a breed is exposed to becoming extinct, i.e. its degree of endangerment (DE), is an essential information to orient conservation policies. Assessing DE properly is a difficult task, as numerous factors are involved. Several methods are currently used in Europe and the paper first discusses the development of some objective criteria to promote the creation of a uniform system. Both demographic and genetic aspects of population decline are considered. It is proposed to estimate the number of years needed to reach a critical population size, which is also a measure of time available to evaluate options and undertake action before extinction. Thresholds of endangerment for both the demographic and genetic aspects are discussed. In addition, the population growth rate of 110 European cattle breeds is analysed. Growth rate is normally distributed with a mean of 1.00 (S.D. 0.09, range 0.77-1.27). Population size at the beginning of the analysed period and country of breeding affect growth rate significantly. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Moderne fokmethoden hebben geleid tot hoogproduktieve veerassen. De oude huisdierrassen die hiervoor de basis vormen zijn nu zeldzaam en worden met uitsterven bedreigd. Ze kunnen het in veel gevallen niet meer tegen de moderne rassen opnemen. Toch zijn er goede redenen om deze bedreigde rassen te behouden.