15th Let’s Liberate Diversity!
REGISTRATION ARE OPEN UNTIL 30 APRIL
The 15th edition of the LLD Forum will be held in Scandicci from May 23 to 25, 2026, in conjunction with the 5th edition of the 72 Hours of Biodiversity organized by Rete Semi Rurali, Italy.
5 th Let’s Cultivate Diversity!
REGISTRATION ARE ALSO OPEN!
The European Grain Festival 2026 in Denmark combines parallel sessions of baking workshops, cooking demos, tastings, field demonstrations, poster sessions and lectures. You will meet and network with experienced bakers, farmers, chefs, processors, breeders and researchers from all over Europe.
—If you aim to produce quality cereal and cereal based food, this is the place to be.
At the heart of the festival you will find a demonstration field displaying hundreds of diverse grain varieties from all over Europe.
USE IT or LOSE IT
The European Coordination Let’s Liberate Diversity! (ECLLD) is an international nonprofit organization dedicated to the dynamic management of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture.
Our core belief is that the diversification of our food systems can be achieved through the collaborative efforts of various stakeholders involved in cultivated biodiversity.
The Coordination boasts a robust network of 22 members with a network of 170 national organizations operating across 21 European countries with a membership base exceeding 35,000.
In collaboration with approximately 15,000 farmers, we actively engage in the conservation and management of around 40,000 plant varieties.
Where we are
We want to bring diversity back in our food system!
Countries across all the Europan Region
Staff and volunteers
Organisations part of the network
Varietes maintend and managed by the network
Individual Members
Farmers and gardeners involved in dynamic management of cultivated biodiversity
What we do
As an influential platform, EC-LLD! serves as a unique space for facilitating the exchange of practices and information among farmers, seed savers, NGO members, and emerging small enterprises, fostering local actions on agrobiodiversity and promoting participatory dialogues.
Our proven expertise extends to our participation in projects funded by Horizon Europe, Erasmus+ and Horizon 2020. Furthermore, we have established successful collaborations with a diverse range of foundations and academic institutions.
Our work span across the 3 following areas
policy
Capacity building and knowledge sharing regarding agrobiodiversity, seed policies and legislastion.
policy
Capacity building and knowledge sharing regarding agrobiodiversity, seed policies and legislastion.
Communities seed banks
Training, support and management across Europe.
Communities seed banks
Training, support and management across Europe.
Communities
Facilitating peer to peer exchange of practices and information between different actors.
Communities
Facilitating peer to peer exchange of practices and information between different actors.
NEWS
IntercropVALUES and Leguminose at the EU Parliament
Our colleagues at Iniciativas Innovadoras (ESP) have invited us to the following event:
What
IntercropVALUES and our sister project Leguminose will be at the EU Parliament in Brussels. MEP Cristina Guarda (GREENS) is hosting an event that will explore how EU policies, especially the next CAP, can better boost diversification, notably intercropping.
When
Wednesday, 6th of May 2026. 10:00-12:00 (Brussels, CEST)
Who
Policymakers, farmers, researchers, and agri-food stakeholders will be present in the room with a limited number (35).
But…
Everyone interested is invited to join the event online.
REGISTER HERE: https://forms.gle/aGiMTrZX6N5wdAEe7
80 percent of European citizens say NO to patents on seeds
No Patents on Seeds! publishes a representative survey conducted in five EU member states
- France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Poland surveyed.
- Results clearly show that around 80 percent of EU citizens reject the idea of granting patents on living organisms, e.g. patents on plants or animals.
- More than 70 percent said no to patents on naturally occurring genes.
- More than 90 percent responded with yes to the statements that diversity in plant breeding and food supply is crucial, and that environmental protection is particularly important when it comes to patents on genetically engineered plants and their market approval.
- No Patents on Seeds! is now demanding that the EU takes its responsibility to prohibit patents on plants and animals.
Importance of this survey for current EU policy
The survey was conducted by the opinion research institute Civey. One of the main reasons for conducting the representative survey was that EU member states and the European Parliament will soon be voting on a new law that would exempt food plants obtained from new genetic engineering (or new genomic techniques, NGTs) from existing risk assessment and labelling regulations. Depending on the outcome, this could vastly increase the number of seeds that are patented. The EU Parliament originally demanded that patents on plants and genetic resources were either prohibited or restricted. However, the compromise text that that the Council and EU parliament will soon vote on allows all NGT plants to be patented, including naturally occurring genes. Most NGT plants could be released without undergoing environmental risk assessment.
Non-government organisations denounce EU patent policy
“The picture is consistent in all five countries: the public rejects patents on seeds. A majority of EU citizens are very critical of patents on natural traits and want to see a precautionary approach when it comes to patents on genetically engineered plants and their environmental release,” says Nout van der Vaart from Oxfam Novib. “It is time for political decision-makers to take their responsibilities seriously and stop patents on seeds in the EU. They must also place more importance on securing diversity in plant breeding and the protection of the public goods.”
“All genetically engineered crops, including NGTs, are patented, but seed corporations like Bayer, BASF and Syngenta even claim patents on conventional crops. In this way they drive other seed companies out of business so they can dominate the market even more”, Nina Holland from Corporate Europe Observatory warns “The patents block access for plant breeders to a wide variety of seeds, necessary for a resilient food system. In fact, we all will get dependent on the decisions of this handful of companies and the prices they set. That is why citizens clearly rejects such patents.”
“It is apparent that the perspective of the public was not sufficiently taken into account in preparing the current proposal for the future regulation of NGT plants. This needs to be corrected. We demand that the text is amended to stop patents on seeds, or that these are completely rejected,” says Martha Mertens from Friends of the Earth.
No Patents on Seeds! Coalition
No Patents on Seeds! is an international coalition of organisations actively protecting conventional plant breeders and farmers against the threat of increasing concentration in the seed markets. Therefore, No Patents on Seeds! supports the EU member states and members of the EU Parliament that are in favour of prohibiting patents on plants.
Read the results of the survey here
LiveSeeding Summer School 2026 – Register now!
Pre-registration for the LiveSeeding Summer School 2026 is now open!
What is it?
This 5-day summer school focuses on Organic Plant Breeding and brings together breeders, researchers, students, advisors, and farmers to explore innovative and participatory approaches. Through a combination of lectures, hands-on activities, and on-farm experiences, you will gain practical skills to work in sustainable seed systems.
Dates, location and participation
· Dates: 13–17 July 2026
· Location: Universitat Politècnica de València, València, Spain
· Possibility for students to get 3 ECTS
· Participation fee: 100 EUR
· Maximum 30 participants
· Six scholarships of 500 EUR will be awarded by ECO-PB (see pre-registration link for details)
Are you interested? (YES!)
General info: https://liveseeding.eu/
Full Program and Logistics info: https://liveseeding.eu/
Pre- Registrations at this link: https://survey.fibl.org/index.
This is your opportunity to deepen your knowledge and contribute to the future of resilient and sustainable seed systems.
Blacked-Out Ingredients campaign: defend transparency in food labelling
A Europe-wide campaign is calling on citizens and organisations to defend transparency in food labelling. The Blacked-Out Ingredients campaign warns that EU labels may soon no longer indicate whether food contains altered DNA, and invites people across Europe to take action, contact MEPs, and share the campaign materials widely.
Ahead of the European Parliament vote expected on 18 May, the campaign raises concern that, if the proposed law passes, food labels would no longer inform consumers whether food contains genetically modified organisms. Its core message is straightforward: consumers should continue to have access to clear information about what is in their food.
The campaign was initiated by organisations from the organic and environmental sector, including Demeter, Friends of the Earth Europe, and Bioland, and is open to all organisations and individuals who consider this issue important for consumers. Its aims are to encourage the European Parliament to maintain consumer labelling also for new GMOs, and to inform as many people as possible about the proposed changes and their implications.
The campaign website offers practical ways to get involved. It is available in multiple languages and includes WhatsApp and Telegram channels, and a downloads section with visuals and videos for sharing.
Find out more at the campaign website and help disseminate it across your networks https://www.blacked-out-ingredients.eu/
How can municipalities help defend seed diversity in Europe?
A recent initiative from the Red de Municipios por la Agroecología (RMAe) offers a strong example!
In the context of the ongoing trilogue on the future EU Regulation on Plant Reproductive Material, the Spanish municipal network has sent a letter to the European institutions arguing that cultivated biodiversity and local seed systems are not abstract concerns: they are already part of concrete local food policies, and the new regulation should create conditions that support this work.
In its letter, RMAe stresses that municipalities are key actors in this debate and connects the seed policy debate with the role of municipalities in building sustainable, healthy and resilient local food systems, reinforcing the concept that seed diversity is not limited to the agricultural or breeding sphere alone, but is also linked to governance, territorial food strategies, public action and community-based initiatives.
RMAe’s proposal is grounded in the broader work developed around the 1st European Symposium “Fostering Cultivated Biodiversity through Local Food Policies”, held in Granollers on 29–30 April 2025, and in the resulting Granollers Manifesto. That process advanced a shared vision for European municipalities:
By 2050 all European municipalities will have a food policy that prioritises city-region based agri-food systems that delivers healthy and tasty food relying on cultivated biodiversity and locally adapted seeds using natural resources within the planetary boundaries while ensuring economically viable livelihoods to its communities and people.
The Granollers Manifesto positions cultivated biodiversity as a key lever for sustainable and healthy local food systems, and calls for action at municipal, regional, national and European levels. It includes 32 strategic actions for municipalities and a set of broader legislative, policy and financial demands to create long-term enabling conditions.
The letter also draws on evidence and examples compiled through the Horizon Europe LiveSeeding project, including the Manual on the Integration of Cultivated Biodiversity in Local Organic and Agroecology-oriented Food Policies. This paper documents how municipalities across Europe are already taking action to support cultivated biodiversity in practice. The examples highlighted in the letter range from community seed banks and support to local seed entrepreneurship, to participatory breeding, farmers’ markets, food processing initiatives and public food procurement linked to local and diverse varieties.
On this basis, RMAe calls on the trilogue negotiators to ensure that the future PRM Regulation provides a framework that protects and enables local seed systems, dynamic conservation, farmer-managed seed practices and community-based initiatives.
For EC-LLD, this is an important example of how cultivated biodiversity can be advanced through alliances between municipalities, civil society, researchers and local food system actors. It also shows the value of connecting European seed policy debates with territorial practice and local public policy.
96 Research needs from practice
EU CAP Network publishes report on research needs in agriculture
The report presents 96 research needs from practice as the outcome of three EU CAP Network Focus Groups (FG), three workshops, and one seminar that took place between November 2023 and June 2024, including the three Focus Groups on ‘Regenerative agriculture for soil health’, ‘Crop associations including Milpa and protein crops’ and ‘Competitive and resilient mountain areas’. It also includes the workshops on ‘Circular water management’, ‘Women-led innovations in agriculture and rural areas’, ‘Promoting pollinator-friendly farming’, and the EU CAP Network seminar ‘Skills and lifelong learning for agricultural advisory and training service providers’.
Read the report here: EU CAP Network – Needs from practice
Granollers Manifesto now available in 9 languages
What is the Granollers Manifesto?
The Granollers Manifesto “Fostering Cultivated Biodiversity in European Municipalities” is the result of a participatory process developed around the 1st European Symposium “Fostering Cultivated Biodiversity through Local Food Policies” held in Granollers on April 29 and 30, 2025. It embodies a shared vision:
“By 2050 all European municipalities will have a food policy that prioritises city region based agri-food systems that delivers healthy and tasty food relying on cultivated biodiversity and locally adapted seeds using natural resources within the planetary boundaries while ensuring economically viable livelihoods to its communities and people.”
To achieve this vision, the document promotes mainstreaming organic agriculture and agroecology-oriented production as the most evidence-based pathways to build sustainable and healthy food systems, to mitigate and adapt to global emergencies, and to secure food and seed sovereignty.
The Manifesto issues a call to action to European municipalities and all levels of governance, positioning cultivated biodiversity as a key lever for building sustainable, healthy local food systems across Europe.
In this sense, it includes 32 concrete strategic actions for the municipal level, organised according to the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact categories: governance, sustainable diets and nutrition, social and economic equity, food production, food supply and distribution, and food waste.
Furthermore, it proposes that regional, national, and European levels adopt specific legislative, policy, and financial measures across the various dimensions of the food system to create favourable conditions for long-term municipal action.
The proposal of the Manifesto is detailed in the Manual on the Integration of Cultivated Biodiversity in Local Organic and Agroecology-oriented Food Policies, published by LiveSeeding. This manual is designed for municipal officers, planners, project managers, policymakers, and elected officials in Europe dedicated to fostering sustainable, healthy, and equitable local food systems.
The Granollers Manifesto is now available in 9 languages
You can access the manifesto through this link: https://orgprints.org/id/eprint/56440/
Thanks to our colleague María Carrascosa from Red de Municipios por la Agroecología for sharing this with us!
EU Agriculture Ministers Restrict Farmers’ Rights
“The position of the agriculture ministers endangers those who keep crop diversity alive. We call for reason to foster resilience in agriculture and protect the diversity and flavour on our plates,” comments ARCHE NOAH seed law expert Magdalena Prieler. The trilogue negotiations between the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission on the new “Regulation on the Production and Marketing of Plant Reproductive Material” will begin in the new year.
Instead of protecting farmers and local seed producers, the Council’s position imposes the same bureaucratic requirements on small companies as on global corporations. The new record-keeping, reporting and traceability rules would hit small producers the hardest. However, small producers make an invaluable contribution to the preservation and marketing of old, open-pollinated varieties. Despite their small size, they also often offer a wider range of crops than the largest players on the market. “If these small businesses are pushed out of the market owing to new administrative burdens, our markets would lose much of their crop diversity – an outcome that harms us all” says Prieler.
The Council of Agriculture Ministers also wants to prevent the marketing of newly developed diverse cereal or oilseed varieties. The Council restricts the possibility for new varieties to deviate from strict uniformity requirements to only fruits and vegetables. “This restriction amounts to a ban on the work of diversity breeders. Regional operators that offer adaptable seed of niche crop species or develop varieties for innovative, environmentally friendly cultivation systems such as market gardening would be excluded from the market. Farmers would become completely dependent on the seed industry under this rule”, Prieler explains.
Agriculture Ministers restrict farmer seed exchange
In addition, the Council’s position forbids farmers from exchanging their seed with farmers outside their region, even in small quantities. The exchange of other types of propagating material, such as fruit-tree scions, is completely prohibited. Yet access to crops and varieties from other regions is often essential for farmers facing the climate crisis. “Seed exchange is not only a human right for peasants recognised in international law. It t enables farmers to experiment, innovate and support each other in difficult times,” Prieler explains. “By restricting these exchanges so drastically, the Council of Agriculture Ministers is hollowing out farmers’ seed rights until they are barely worth the paper they are written on.”
Some improvements made, but major issues remain
After over two years of continuous advocacy, ARCHE NOAH succeeded in securing some important improvements to the proposal ahead of today’s decision. The Council has now introduced adapted rules for the production of propagating material of old fruit varieties, instead of applying the same standards used for large-scale orchard production. Our work also contributed to the removal of several unworkable requirements for “standard seed,” such as the separation of seed and food production on small farms and the demand for expensive germination tests in external laboratories.
Look ahead to the trilogue negotiations in 2026
ARCHE NOAH demands that the transfer of plant reproductive material for the purpose of preserving agrobiodiversity remains exempt from seed legislation, as is currently the case in several member states including Austria. Farmers’ freedom to exchange seed among themselves must be guaranteed, and the administrative burden for very small farms must remain proportionate. All of these points are missing from the Council’s position.
The trilogue negotiations between the Council, the Parliament, and the Commission on the final legal text will begin in the new year. ARCHE NOAH — together with numerous seed initiatives from across Europe — will continue to work to ensure that the new seed legislation strengthens crop diversity and farmers’ seed rights, rather than restricting these principles even further. “The Council’s position is unacceptable. Agriculture Minister Norbert Totschnig and his colleagues must finally take decisive action so that the important work of conservation initiatives and small seed enterprises can continue in the future—to save the diversity in our fields and on our plates and to strengthen the resilience of our agriculture in times of climate crisis”, Prieler demands.
For enquiries:
ARCHE NOAH, Association for the Conservation and Development of Cultivated Plant Diversity
Axel Grunt
Head of Communications
+43 680 2379245
Image Service:
Downloads under www.arche-noah.at/presse-medien/pressefotos
Requests to presse@arche-noah.at
New paper on consequences of deregulation on the seed sector
New IG Saatgut position paper on the deregulation of NGTs in the EU
A summary of our IG Saatgut’s new position paper with “Non-GM seed production at risk: Practical consequences of a deregulation of NGTs for the seed sector” is now available. The summary is available both in English and German. The translation of the whole document into English will come later, as it is still being translated.
The paper is structured in such a way that, in addition to a brief assessment of the current situation at the beginning, the middle section describes the vulnerability of seed production and the consequences of
deregulating NGT plants for this. You will also find a diagram showing possible contamination pathways. The paper concludes with IG Saatgut’s demands, which are based on the contexts described.
Please feel free to share it widely!
IG Saatgut are also available for explanatory presentations or in-depth assessments of the topic, so please do not hesitate to contact them.
IG Saatgut – Summary (DT) IG Saatgut – Summary (ENG)
“Raise our Forks” Update
“Raise our Forks!” Petition
The proposed new EU regulation on the production and marketing of plant reproductive material, presented by the European Commission in July 2023, and the current state of negotiations in the Council, threaten the conservation and circulation of crop diversity. It disregards the right of farmers and gardeners to harvest, use, exchange, and sell their own seeds, a right enshrined in international law. This is unacceptable.
The petition calls on the European Parliament and the Council to adopt legislation that enables the free circulation of diverse seeds, enhances biodiversity, respects farmers’ rights, and lays the foundation for a sustainable, resilient, and diverse food system.
Update on the petition
What to do next
Handover Toolkit_Ministers_Raise our Forks_2025.
Seed legislation, seed marketing, advocacy, seed systems, scientific publication, school and seminar, patents
Agrobiodiversity, seed savers, seed networks
Plant breeding, LLD Forum, news from members, news from other organizations
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The ECLLD - News! informs about events, ongoing projects and insights regarding cultivated biodiversity at European level.
We are very pleased with your interest in our challenges, our diversity is our strength!
-COMMON CALENDAR –
On Schedule
WS1 – Seeds, Biodiversity and the Right to Food: The Role of Municipal Food Policies
- On Schedule
WS 2: Seeds in Common: Genebanks, Breeding Innovation, and the Future of Democratic Seed Systems
- On Schedule
WS 3: On-farm agrobiodiversity in the Balkan region: from preservation to plant population development
- On Schedule
WS 4: Enhancing cultivated biodiversity through local food policies
Submit an Event
Legal Watch
The legal watch is realised by the French Farmers’ seeds network, Réseau Semences Paysannes. Informations are related to seeds marketing, intellectual property rights, genetic ressources.
It is presented in French.
on EU topics
- Plateforme ACLP, Communiqué du 27 février 2025 - L’ACLP participe à la table ronde sur la propriété intellectuelle et les semences au Salon international de l’agriculture de Paris 2025
- Convention sur la diversité biologique, Communiqué du 24 février 2025, Le Fonds de Cali est lancé en marge de la reprise de la session de la COP16
- OMPI, Communiqué du 5 décembre 2024 - Le Malawi est le premier pays à ratifier le Traité de l’OMPI sur la propriété intellectuelle, les ressources génétiques et les savoirs traditionnels associés
- Confédération suisse, Avis du Conseil fédéral sur le rapport de la CSEC-N relatif à la prolongation du moratoire sur le génie génétique, 29 janvier 2025
- ACLP, Communiqué du 5 février 2025 - L’ACLP organise une session d’information pour les décideurs politiques de l’UE
