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EUROPEAN-SEED.COM I EUROPEAN SEED I 29 came into force in 2004 and has been ratified by 134 countries. According to the treaty itself it was created because plant genetic resources for food and agriculture are a common concern of all countries in that all countries depend very largely on plant genetic resources for food and agriculture that originated elsewhere. This basic interdependence requires a global system to secure our common heritage and to make it accessible and useful to all. That is what the Crop Trust has been working on during the last decade a global system for ex situ conservation that is efficient and rational based on defined roles and international collaboration and also cost-effective avoiding unnecessary duplication of efforts among players providing the raw genetic material to breed for a more nutritious and varied food supply increasing poor populations access to more affordable and healthier food to fight malnutrition. The Crop Trust currently has oversight and financial responsibility for 11 global gene banks through the CGIAR Research Program CRP for Managing and Sustaining Crop Collections. Held in trust for the world under the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture these are among the most comprehensive and widely used collections of crop diversity. The Crop Trust also maintains in partnership with the Norwegian government and the Nordic Genetic Resources Centre the ultimate failsafe beneath the Arctic permafrost the Svalbard Global Seed Vault safeguards these and other collections protecting seeds from almost every country against an uncertain future. In strengthening this global system the Crop Trust also pursues conservation and use of the wild cousins of our food crops and helps develop a new generation of information technologies to make the worlds crop diversity searchable and accessible wherever it is needed. The Cost of Conserving Forever The ex situ conservation of crop diversity is by its nature a long-term never-ending task. Crop collections require constant curation and care even brief disruptions can expose plant genetic material to the risk of permanent loss. Only long-term sustainable financial support can secure a global system that is too important to leave to chance. The Crop Trust is thus building a Crop Diversity Endowment Fund of US850 million which by generating approximately 34 million in annual income will safeguard the diversity of the major food crops of the world in gene banks and thereby the basis for food security. The Crop Trust is committed to building this endowment over the next five years. By 2016 an international donors conference will be asked to add 330 million to the current endowment fund of 170 million. By 2018 an additional 350 million will be sought so as to reach 850 million in the endowment fund and safeguard a wider spectrum of the worlds agricultural diversity found in national collections and in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. Join the Crop Trust The private sector is an essential stakeholder of the Crop Trusts work as seeds are conserved and distributed with the ultimate purpose of producing food. The food and agriculture sector depends critically on the availability of diverse farm produce as a foundation for its business. Supporting the Crop Diversity Endowment Fund is a one-off green investment generating annual social returns far into the future. It provides annual benefits over the very long term through investment income disbursed to key international collections of seeds and other plant genetic material for food and agriculture. Unlike project funds that are disbursed and exhausted on grant activities upon receipt by the implementing organisation endowment resources are safeguarded and invested by the Crop Trust so as to retain their real value against inflation. The Crop Trust also offers its private sector supporters a tailored set of benefits to become closely involved with the organisation. Among these Endowing A Specific Crop Each crop has different costs associated with its long- term conservation. Investment Sharing Managed by a leading international financial institution this option allows investors to share a portion of their investment returns with the Crop Trust. Matching Donations Under a matching grant a donor agrees to match every dollar raised by the Crop Trust with a dollar from the donor. And as additional bonus donors contributing more than 250000 gain access to the governance structure of the Crop Trust through an invitation to its Donors Council. By contributing to the Crop Trust Endowment Fund donors are ensuring that mankind will be able to adapt to climate change and produce the additional food that is required to feed a growing and more demanding world population. If a company is interested in working with or supporting the Crop Trust contact THE CROP TRUST Tel 49 0 228 85427 122 infocroptrust.org Platz Der Vereinten Nationen 7 53113 Bonn Germany