The National Crop Wild Relative Strategy Report for Finland

Crop wild relatives (CWR) are wild plant species which are related to cultivated plants such as food, medicinal, ornamental, forestry, fodder and forage species. CWR species represent important plant genetic resources. They have potential for future food security by providing genetic variability and material for plant breeding and therefore enhancing agricultural production. These new varieties may turn out to be instrumental in allowing crops to survive in the new environmental conditions resulting from climate change. CWR are now included in several international treaties, however, practical conservation actions are still largely lacking. Since CWRs are valuable wild species, mostly not included in conservation programs and themselves often threatened or growing in threatened habitats, they require urgent research and conservation actions. This report was created as part of EU funded ‘PGR Secure’- project and includes a national crop wild relative checklist, prioritized list, in situ and ex situ gap analysis and suggestions for the conservation of Finnish CWR diversity, thus forming the National CWR Strategy for Finland.