Technical manual series on Community Seed Banks (Manual 3), DYNAVERSITY project
This manual (Manual 3 of a technical series produced within the DYNAVERSITY Horizon 2020 project) explains international and European legal frameworks relevant to access to plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (PGRFA) and explores their practical relevance for Community Seed Banks (CSBs) and on-farm actors. It outlines the history and roles of key instruments (the FAO International Undertaking, the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Nagoya Protocol, and the ITPGRFA and its Multilateral System), clarifies concepts such as Prior Informed Consent, Mutually Agreed Terms and Material Transfer Agreements, and summarises EU-level arrangements (AEGIS, EURISCO, and the EU ABS Regulation). The manual presents three practical scenarios for CSBs and farmers: (1) how a CSB can set access and benefit-sharing rules for seed it distributes, (2) how farmers or CSBs can access germplasm from institutional ex situ collections, and (3) how farmers may decide about granting access to germplasm on their land. It reports survey findings on growing direct-use requests to genebanks, describes examples and tools (e.g. Easy-SMTA, ProSpecieRara’s approaches) and discusses implications for farmers’ rights, in situ and ex situ complementarities, and cooperation between formal genebanks and informal seed networks. The manual aims to help CSBs understand legal options and practical pathways for exchanging and conserving germplasm while navigating ABS requirements.
Key topics: access and benefit-sharing, ITPGRFA, Nagoya Protocol, community seed banks, SMTA / Easy-SMTA, genebanks, farmers’ rights, AEGIS
