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NordGen celebrates 10 years preserving genetic diversity

Date: 2018.09.07

Finngoat cheese. A Swedish, blue duck. Danish kohlrabi and Norwegian forest research. And on top of that, pieces of a global seed vault. When NordGen celebrates its 10-year anniversary, it is done in the context of both genetic and Nordic diversity.

Today, festivities are taking place in Alnarp as NordGen, the Nordic competence center for genetic diversity, celebrates ten years. About 150 guests are invited to participate in the celebrations and are thereby given the opportunity to learn more about our field of work and why genetic diversity is important.

“Genetic diversity is a natural resource much more valuable than oil and diamonds. They are resources stored in the crops we grow, the farm animals we keep and the forests we plant. They give us food, timber, fuel and medicines. Additionally, genetic resources have the potential to solve many of the challenges we face
concerning climate change”, Lise Lykke Steffensen, CEO of NordGen, said at the event.

Unique collaboration

NordGen isn’t merely a knowledge center but also a gene bank, preserving genetic resources as seeds and giving the rest of the society access to them. This kind of gene banks exists all over the world as most countries, through international agreements, have promised to take care of their genetic resources. But NordGen is unique in the respect that it’s a regional gene bank. The Nordic countries have agreed to collaborate in the task of preserving the particular agricultural and forest flora and fauna thriving here in the north.

“NordGen is the perfect example of how Nordic cooperation leads to better solutions. When we perform tasks together we can reach a greater effectiveness and benefit from each other’s competences within the Nordic countries” Dagfinn Høybråten, Secretary General of the Nordic Council of Ministers said as he visited the anniversary.

Experienced 10-year-old

Although only 10 years old, NordGen has gathered a lot of knowledge and competence. But then the institution also has a great history. Already in 1979, the Nordic Gene Bank (NGB) was formed, a name which still is alive through the naming of our seed samples. (NGB555 is for example the name of the kohlrabi served in the buffet lunch during the celebrations). In 2008, NGB merged with the Nordic Gene Bank Farm Animals and the Nordic Council for Forest Reproductive Material and NordGen was born.

“It was during the Norwegian chairmanship in the Nordic Council of Ministers in 2006 as the beneficial synergies of a merger was emphasized”, said Lise Lykke Steffensen who at the time worked intensely with the underlying negotiations regarding the formation of NordGen.

The work continues

Today we celebrate, but the perpetual mission of preserving genetic diversity continues. After the warm and dry summer in Scandinavia, it’s more apparent than ever that we need to breed new crops that can survive more extreme weather. We also have to conserve our native breeds that can survive on poorer forages and we need a strong, genetically diverse forest that can resist new diseases and pests.

Congratulations to the first ten years, NordGen – now let’s keep up the good work!