Ch. 10— Maintaining Biological Diversity Internationally • 275 



optimal pairings, trades, and management (24). 

 Official studbooks are those recognized and en- 

 dorsed by lUCN's Survival Commission and 

 the International Union of Directors of Zoolog- 

 ical Gardens, and they are coordinated by the 

 editor of the International Zoo Yearbook. 



Microbial Diversity 



A directory of institutions maintaining micro- 

 bial culture collections was published in 1972, 

 under the sponsorship of UNESCO, the World 

 Health Organization, and the Commonwealth 

 Scientific and Industrial Research Organiza- 

 tion. The directory was revised and updated 

 in 1982 (55) and remains the primary compre- 

 hensive source of information on international 

 culture collections. In addition, the American 

 Phytopathological Society convened a panel of 

 scientists to discuss the importance and future 

 of microbial culture collections (1). Informa- 

 tion from these sources indicates that probably 

 1,200 to 1,550 collections exist throughout the 

 world. A brief history of several of the more 

 important collections is available (64). 



In 1985, UNEP, the International Cell Re- 

 search Organization, and UNESCO recognized 

 the need for moderately sized culture collec- 

 tions. Each collection as envisioned would have 

 a special purpose and together they would form 

 a network of collections around the world (6). 



The establishment of these microbiological re- 

 source centers (MIRCENs) began at that time 

 and the specialized collections are now located 

 in 15 locations (17): including Brisbane, Aus- 

 traha; Stockholm, Sweden; Bangkok, Thailand; 

 Nairobi, Kenya; Porto Alegre, Brazil; Guatemala 

 City, Guatemala; Cairo, Egypt; Paia, Hawaii, 

 United States; and Dakar, Senegal (32). 



MIRCENs were established to develop and 

 enhance an infrastructure for a world network 

 of regional and interregional laboratories. This 

 network provides a base of knowledge in micro- 

 biology and biotechnology to support the bio- 

 technology industry in developed and devel- 

 oping countries. Activities of MIRCENs include 

 collection, maintenance, testing and distribu- 

 tion oi Rhizobium, and training of personnel 

 (46). Training has perhaps been the most im- 

 portant activity towards developing research 

 capabilities and diffusion of technology, espe- 

 cially in developing countries (16). Though each 

 MIRCEN works according to its own set of pri- 

 orities, they share a common goal of working 

 together to strengthen the network and advance 

 the knowledge in microbiology and biotechnol- 

 ogy. In doing so, MIRCENs provide incentives 

 to develop and maintain offsite microbial col- 

 lections in support of national programs. They 

 also offer a framework that could provide a se- 

 cure custodial system for national and inter- 

 national microbial resources. 



NEEDS AND OPPORTUNITIES 



The United States has historically played an 

 important leadership role in international con- 

 servation initiatives. The establishment of Yel- 

 lowstone Park in 1872 heralded the international 

 movement to create national parks worldwide. 

 The United States also was a central actor in 

 the 1972 Stockholm Conference on the Human 

 Environment, in the creation of the United Na- 

 tions Environment Programme, the World Her- 

 itage Convention, and numerous other initia- 

 tives (see previous sections). In recent years, 

 U.S. leadership in international conservation 

 has waned, which is reflected in funding and 

 personnel support for international programs. 



A number of opportunities exist whereby the 

 United States could reestablish itself as a lead- 

 ing actor in international efforts to promote the 

 maintenance of biological diversity. 



Onsite Activities 



A major problem in developing a coherent 

 strategy to address concerns over loss of bio- 

 logical diversity is the uncertainty that sur- 

 rounds the issue. Estimates of the scope of spe- 

 cies diversity vary by orders of magnitude, 

 which illustrates obvious impediments to defin- 

 ing and addressing the problem. Further, lim- 



