GENERAL OBJECTIVE
The aim of the project is to start and make independent over the long period, plant biodiversity conservation in Nepal, through ex situ conservation of Himalayan wild plants in the first Seed Bank dedicated to them (hosted in NAST laboratory, at Laliptur, Kathmandu and started in the frame of the SHARE project, managed by Ev-K2-CNR), and to improve the knowledge of these topics by local scientific institutions (NAST, TU) and local communities. Particular attention is paid to wild medicinal, alpine, subalpine plants and spontaneous relatives of cultivated species (Crop Wild Relatives CWR) and landraces, the local varieties cultivated in the Sagarmatha National Park (Everest area), especially if they have peculiar nutritional properties and health benefits. The conservation of these species will also ensure greater food security and human health for future local generations, while protecting biodiversity, and with the prospect of achieving an eco-sustainable development. This is also in line with one of the main themes of EXPO2015. 

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES

• Conservation at the Himalayan Seed Bank (HSB) of seeds of at least 200 species of useful wildplants as medicinal species (MAPs), alpine plants, CWR, landraces, agricultural or useful plants. Among these at least 5 should be cultivated in agreement with the heads of the villages in Sagarmatha National Park (SNP) and local communities.

• Promotion of village seed banks (Family Seed Banks), in order to increase and improve the conservation of the seeds used in farming actions by local people, in order to ensure food safety and to safeguard local agro-biodiversity for the future (landraces).

   

   

• Transfer to local people of rural areas in SNP of down market techniques and basic instrumentation for long-term storage of seeds of agricultural species and varieties of wild plants used for food, through meetings and demonstrations.

   

• Promotion of capacity building actions for local institutions and courses for Nepalese technicians and researchers in Nepal and Italy in order to provide them the most modern ex situ conservation techniques and to implement sustainable management of natural resources, particularly in mountain and alpine areas.

• Promotion of scientific activities, in order to depth the knowledge on germination ecology of those species collected in SNP, Everest valley, in order to reproduce and cultivate the species of interest.

   

• Communication actions, locally and at scientific institutions, public opinion and young people, with particular focus on high schools and universities, by issuing of press releases, creation of project web pages on the websites of the institutions involved, both in English, Italian and Nepalese. The aim is to help people to understand the importance of the HSB implementation in Nepal for wild and useful plants long term preservation.  

FORECAST ACTIVITIES

• Realization and implementation of technical equipment of HSB for biodiversity ex situ conservation in SNP, electricity (power supply all over the year) included.

   

   

• Field missions in SNP to depth the knowledge on local flora and local techniques used in villages for cultivation and conservation.

   

• Field missions to collect seeds of at least 200 species of medicinal plants (MAPs), alpine plants, CWR, landraces.
   
• Cleaning and conservation of seeds at HSB, whose aim is to conserve, in the future, genetic materials and promote actions for species reintroductions, useful for the future generations.
   
• Germination study of those species collected in SNP in order to reproduce and cultivate species of interest and know the impacts that climate change has on seed germination.

   

• Training courses for Nepalese technicians and local researchers (in Italy and Nepal) in order to transmit them the most modern techniques for ex situ conservation and implement the sustainable management of natural resources, in particular in mountain and alpine areas.

   

• Promotion of village seed banks (Community Seed Banks) in the Buffer Zone in SNP and experimental greenhouses, in order to increase and improve the conservation of seeds used in cultivation actions of local population, guaranteeing food security and safeguard of local agro-biodiversity and promoting the local market.

• Project dissemination activities.