From the Potato Park to a Global Network: Indigenous Territories Protecting Seed Diversity

This side event showcases community-led approaches to implementing the Treaty’s core articles on in-situ conservation and the realization of Farmers’ Rights. Anchored in Peru’s globally recognized Potato Park, experts will demonstrate how Biocultural Heritage Territories function as effective systems for safeguarding crop genetic resources and food sovereignty in centers of diversity and origin. The session will illustrate the successful scaling of this framework through the International Network of Mountain Indigenous Peoples (INMIP), with examples from Peru, China, Kenya and Tajikistan. The event will present concrete policy recommendations for the Governing Body, derived from a pre-GB11 workshop in Cusco. These recommendations will highlight how supportive national legal instruments, such as Peru’s Law on Agrobiodiversity Zones, can secure and strengthen the vital contributions of Biocultural Heritage Territories to the Treaty’s objectives. Read more: https://www.fao.org/plant-treaty/eleventh-governing-body/list-of-side-events-gb11/en