Collaboration among regions is strategic to promote exchange of experiences from different PGR contexts around the world.  This goal is being pursued by the CWANA Group using a dual approach, by strengthening the collaboration within IPGRI and by fostering the partnership with other relevant international organizations and institutions working within and outside the region.         

Strengthening links within IPGRI  

In collaboration with the Sub-Sahara and Africa (SSA)  Regional office, CWANA is developing a project proposal for studying the genetic erosion of agro-biodiversity in desert environments. Joint work with the Asia Pacific and Oceania (APO) Regional Office include the production of a database and a descriptor list for Lathyrus species, IK documentation and Distance Learning (DL). Close cooperation with other projects is also pursued through CWANA Regional Project (work on forest species, link to Europe regional project),  (work on neglected & underutilized species and work on policy and legal issues.)

A suggestion to work on dry land genetic resources across IPGRI’s regions was been put forward at Program and Planning Review Committee (PPRC-21) in Malaysia. Given the relevance of this work for the CWANA region, the CWANA Group is currently discussing this work through a collaboration on Opuntia (cactus fruit) with the Americas Group. Instrumental to this, will be the participation of IPGRI CWANA to the forthcoming International Conference on Cactus to take place in Tunis, Tunisia on October 2000.

Relevant to fostering collaboration with the IPGRI-APO Office was the attendance at the IPGRI inter-regional Documentation Workshop held at the IPGRI-APO Regional Office on November 1999 and the APO/CWANA interregional meeting in Malaysia, 2002 where areas of cooperation between CWANA and the other IPGRI Regional Offices were discussed and a workplan for its implementation developed.

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Strengthening links with key international organizations and institutions

ICPPGR Process
The IPGRI CWANA group participated actively in the development process of the International Conference and Program on Plant Genetic Resources (ICPPGR) in preparation for the FAO Technical Conference on Plant Genetic Resources, which took place in Leipzig, Germany, in June 1996. CWANA staff were heavily involved in the preparation of the State of the World Report (SWR), as well as the Global Plan of Action (GPA) for PGRFA. Two regional preparatory meetings for the CWANA region were organized in close collaboration with IPGRI CWANA staff in Teheran and Tunis.

GPA Implementation Meeting
The Leipzig Conference was followed by the GPA Implementation Meeting, which took place at ICARDA, Aleppo in June 1998. This Meeting resulted in regional recommendations in which the role of the CWANA PGR Networks for the implementation of the 20 activities of the GPA, was particularly emphasized.
Another milestone in the follow-up to the GPA implementation was the FAO Meeting on the World Information Early Warning System (WIEWS), which was held in Morocco in 1999 where a regional network, named “WANA/WIEWS Network” was launched. IPGRI CWANA actively took part to this meeting which focused on documentation and genetic erosion issues.

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Other initiatives/partnerships
The inter-regional collaboration outside IPGRI includes the following work and partners:

• The 'Third International Triticeae Symposium' was held from 4-8 May 1997 in ICARDA, Aleppo. As a member of the organizing committee of this initiative, IPGRI CWANA  staff has overseen the scientific program as well as the logistical arrangements together with ICARDA.

• The International Conference on the Origins of Agriculture and the Domestication of Plants in the Near East was held 10-14 May, Tel Hadya, Syria and sponsored jointly by the Institut de Prehistoire Orientale (France), the Genetic Resources Conservation Program of the University of California (Davis, USA), IPGRI CWANA and ICARDA.  

• Participation to the II General Meeting of the FAO’s MESFIN Network held in Turkey in 1999.

• IPGRI is a member of AARINENA and several contacts with this organization resulted in joint initiatives in the area of electronic networking in CWANA.  

• Participation in the CEDARE e-conference on systems development in June 2000.   

• Contacts made with the Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) led to the undertaking of training activities on GIS (IPGRI-APO also attended the courses held in Aleppo).  

• One week lecturing was provided by CWANA staff at the CIHEAM/MAICh course on Biodiversity, held in Turkey in 1999. This was received very positively by the trainees and organizing Institute. Cooperation with MAICh in the area of training and biotechnology was consolidated further. A project proposal with MAICh on biotechnology is expected to be approved by the EU in 2000. Contribution to steer the MEDUSA Network was provided and possibilities of further collaboration with MAICh on underused species were investigated. CWANA staff also provided lectures at the CHEAM/IAMZ Course on Biotechnology held in Spain in 2000. 

• CWANA staff attended the APAARI Meeting “Vision 2025” in Thailand and explored with attending country officials, ways to strengthen the cooperation on PGR (particularly in the area of neglected and underutilized species).

• The collaboration with ACSAD is currently pursued in the area of Pistacia (C05A), Forestry (C07B) and the Near East Agrobiodiversity project activities (C05F).

• Collaboration with ICARDA is currently pursued through a number of activities, namely the Arboretum and the Molecular markers laboratory.  The Arboretum is not meant to be a gene bank but rather a demonstration field where agrobiodiversity of interesting priority NUS species will be used for training, research and public awareness purposes. The Arboretum contains promising indigenous species e.g. shrubs and trees, which will be used for scientific studies and to demonstrate how valuable, albeit less used diversity from CWANA, could effectively contribute to food security and diet diversification, land reclamation of fragile ecosystems, preservation of both natural and man-made ecosystems, plus landscape improvement of urban and rural areas, etc. The concept for the Arboretum developed jointly by CWANA and ICARDA staff in 1999 was approved by Senior Management and planting was initiated in early 2000. In addition to the Arboretum, CWANA staff has also contributed to the establishment of a Pastoretum at ICARDA (as a complementary initiative to the Arboretum). Discussions regarding the possibility of space for IPGRI in ICARDA’s biotechnology laboratory are currently underway.  The delay in concluding these discussions may be ascribed to the re-organization of the biotech program of ICARDA.  IPGRI also financially supported the ICARDA publication  “Dryland Pasture, Forage & Range Network News” which currently has 18 issues to date. 

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