A global system of harmonized observations is needed to inform scientists and policy-makers.

Multiple, coordinated goals and holistic actions are critical

provide a means to enhance the quality and timeliness of the inter actions between scientists and policy-makers at national scales and above. The GLOBE International Commission on Land Use Change and Ecosystems, made up of senior legislators from the G8+5 and several developing countries, provides another opportunity to bring policy-makers and scientists together. Similar initiatives will also be needed at the subnational scale.The United Nations will convene a summit in 2010 to consider the second 5-year review of the MDGs and to catalyze action ahead of the 2015 MDG target year. We must advise policy-makers and civil society organizations on the most critical initiatives needed to achieve the MDGs while preserving biodiversity and ecosystem services.

Growing concern over the potentially devastating impacts of climate change on biodiversity and food security, considered together with the growing world population, means that taking action to conserve crop wild relative (CWR) diversity is no longer an option-it is an urgent priority. Grop wild relatives are species closely related to crops, including their progenitors, which have the potential to contribute beneficial traits for crop improvement, such as biotic and abiotic resistances, leading to improved yield and stability. Having already made major contributions to crop improvement in the 20th century, GWRarerecognizedasacritical resource to sustain global food security; therefore, their systematic conservation is imperative. However, extending their conservation and promoting more systematic exploitation is hindered by a lack of understanding of their current and potential value, their diversity, and practically how they might be conserved. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to (i) demonstrate the current and potential use of GWR in crop improvement, (ii) estimate how many GWR species exist and how many are a global priority for active conservation, and (iii) describe how a global network for the in situ conservation of GWR might be established that could help to underpin future food security.

Aim  Gap analysis is a well‐established conservation technique that identifies areas in which selected elements of biodiversity are represented and through comparison with existing in situ protected area networks identifies habitats or ecosystems that need additional protection. We aim to demonstrate that gap analysis may be extended to encompass both in situ and ex situ genetic diversity conservation strategies. Location  Global, with exemplar case study from sub‐Saharan Africa. Methods  An extended methodology of gap analysis is proposed that involves the following steps: (1) circumscription of target taxon and target area; (2) assessment of natural diversity through a review of intrinsic taxonomic, genetic and ecogeographical diversity combined with threat assessment; (3) assessment of current complementary in situ and ex situ conservation strategies; and (4) reformulation of the conservation strategy through analysis of the differences between the pattern of natural, intrinsic diversity and the elements of that diversity already effectively represented by existing in situ and ex situ conservation actions. Results  To illustrate the gap analysis approach proposed, the methodology was applied to the conservation of African Vigna species (cowpea Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp. and its wild relatives) and indicated: (1) genetic reserves should be established at the southern tip of Lake Tanganyika, the coastal area of Sierra Leone and between Lake Victoria and the other Great Lakes, and (2) 14 taxa and several countries should be targeted for further seed collection. Main conclusions  The robust nature of the extended methodology for gap analysis has been demonstrated and indicates that its scope as an effective conservation tool may be expanded to fully address the need for a more comprehensive and complementary conservation strategy that encompasses both in situ and ex situ applications. However, it should be stressed that the methodology is applicable for any form of biodiversity (wild or cultivated), where the conservation of genetic diversity is the prime goal.

The impact of climate change is causing challenges for the agricultural production and food systems. More nutritious and climate resilient crop varieties are required, but lack of available and accessible trait diversity is limiting crop improvement. Crop wild relatives (CWR) are the wild cousins of cultivated crops and a vast resource of genetic diversity for breeding new, higher yielding, climate change tolerant crop varieties, but they are under-conserved (particularly in situ), largely unavailable and therefore underutilized. Here we apply species distribution modelling, climate change projections and geographic analyses to 1261 CWR species from 167 major crop genepools to explore key geographical areas for CWR in situ conservation worldwide. We identify 150 sites where 65.7% of the CWR species identified can be conserved for future use.

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Ensuring the availability of the broadest possible germplasm base for agriculture in the face of increasingly uncertain and variable patterns of biotic and abiotic change is fundamental for the world's future food supply. While ex situ conservation plays a major role in the conservation and availability of crop germplasm, it may be insufficient to ensure this. In situ conservation aims to maintain target species and the collective genotypes they represent under evolution. A major rationale for this view is based on the likelihood that continued exposure to changing selective forces will generate and favor new genetic variation and an increased likelihood that rare alleles that may be of value to future agriculture are maintained. However, the evidence that underpins this key rationale remains fragmented and has not been examined systematically, thereby decreasing the perceived value and support for in situ conservation for agriculture and food systems and limiting the conservation options available. This study reviews evidence regarding the likelihood and rate of evolutionary change in both biotic and abiotic traits for crops and their wild relatives, placing these processes in a realistic context in which smallholder farming operates and crop wild relatives continue to exist. It identifies areas of research that would contribute to a deeper understanding of these processes as the basis for making them more useful for future crop adaptation.