19: Fruit tree genetic resources: conserving biodiversity with the aid of the public and valorisations

Since 1975, the Department of Biological Control & Plant Genetic Resources of the Agricultural Research Centre in Gembloux has been collecting and evaluating old fruit tree cultivars (cvs) formerly grown in Belgium. One third of our collection, now containing more than 2700 accessions, was recovered from old, often endangered collections in horticultural institutions and two thirds from old orchards on farms and in gardens, thanks to the help of the public. Our main criteria of collecting are: 1. Belgian origin cvs either as 'landraces' or as old named cvs bred by Belgian amateurs during the late 18th and 19th century; 2. old cvs formerly grown in our country on a relative large extent; 3. cvs not present in other European Institutions and 4. cvs which extend the diversity of characters already recorded in the collection.

The informal sector is also active in collecting and conserving old cvs : since 1984 the "Nationale Boomgaard Stichting" works mostly in the Province of Limburg, promoting high standards tree orchards and its collections contain about 2500 accessions ; the fructuarium of Rijckel-Borgloon was also established at the end of the eighties with the aim to increase the public awareness on their historical fruit cvs. In the Walloon Region the association "Flore et Pomone" also works on the same topics and has a collection of about 500 accessions. The only way for managing such diversity and for screening cvs of interest is to collate a sufficient documentation as passport data and that works is devoted into the collections for the characterisation of the material but mainly for its agronomic and phytopathologic evaluation. Throughout this active process a better identification of the material is rending possible but also the data collected are of up most importance: 1. for the utilization and the valorization of the genetic resources and; 2. for developing a strategy for its safe conservation. Different ways of valorizations with the aid of the private sector will be presented but also regional, national and European strategies for long term conservation of our Belgian fruit diversity will be discussed.