Ch. 11— Biological Diversity and Development Assistance • 303 



agement, and coastal-marine management. 

 FWS has undertaken several projects with 

 World Wildlife Fund-U.S. to promote expertise 

 in species and habitat conservation. The 

 University of Florida, in conjunction vifith a pro- 

 gram offered by the National Zoo's Conserva- 

 tion and Research Center in Front Royal, VA, 

 provides hands-on research and training to 

 developing-country students (4). 



U.S. development assistance could promote 

 technical training through national and re- 

 gional germplasm conservation and storage 

 programs. Although most of the support for 

 training currently comes from international 

 organizations, principally the IBPGR and the 

 Food and Agriculture Organization of the 

 United Nations (FAO), USDA could enhance 

 its activities in this area through the National 

 Plant Germplasm System and the Forest Serv- 

 ice. The thrust of these U.S. agency efforts, hovif- 

 ever, may be better directed at identifying areas 

 where assistance could be channeled through 

 existing training programs. 



Specific training on conserving animal re- 

 sources has been organized through FAO and 

 UNEP. A 2-week course (taught in English) is 

 offered through the University of Veterinary 

 Science in Budapest, Hungary. The primary 

 goal of this course is to provide developing- 

 country participants with an overview of the 

 present state of theory and practice (3). Al- 

 though this type of training usefully draws at- 

 tention to the importance of animal genetic re- 

 sources, conservation strategies will depend on 

 a commitment by national governments to 

 avoid haphazard crossing of indigenous breeds 

 and to monitor the most endangered ones (15). 



Training and management are also critical 

 for operating plant germplasm storage facilities. 

 A 1-year graduate program in conservation and 

 use of plant resources at the University of Bir- 

 mingham in England has provided training to 

 more than 100 developing-country scientists 

 (14). Some graduates now direct genetic re- 

 sources programs in their home countries. 

 IBPGR has also established a training program 

 (taught in French) at Gembloux, Belgium, and 

 a training program to be taught in Spanish is 

 under consideration (14). Some 500 developing- 



Photo credit: International Board for Plant Genetic Resources 



Genetic resources conservation requires a cadre of qualified 

 personnel. The University of Birmingfiam in England has an 

 international postgraduate program in genetic conservation. 



country scientists have benefited from IBPGR- 

 supported courses on plant genetic resource 

 management and from internship programs at 

 international agricultural research centers. In 

 addition, IBPGR has helped incorporate rele- 

 vant courses in universities in several devel- 

 oping countries (65). Despite these advances, 

 training in genetic resource conservation and 

 use still needs increased attention. 



Increasing Direct Ecenemic Benefit* 

 of Wild Species 



One of the most forceful arguments for the 

 need to maintain biological diversity has been 

 the potential that wild species hold to improve 

 the quality of human life. The examples of 



