CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACTS ON GENETIC RESOURCES IN THE CARIBBEAN

1. CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACTS ON GENETIC RESOURCES IN THE CARIBBEAN ROLE OF GENETIC RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AND UTILISATION

2. CLIMATE CHANGE • Climate change refers to long-term changes in the weather pattern. • The real threat of climate change lies in • Rapidity with which the changes occur • Unpredictability of weather patterns

3. ISLAND CARIBBEAN STATES • The Caribbean islands are home to unique ecosystems and species, with unsurpassed biodiversity. • Extremely vulnerable • fragmentation of habitat - small population sizes • invasive species • fires, hurricanes, floods

4. CLIMATE CHANGE IN ISLAND STATES OF THE CARIBEAN • Sea level rises • loss of coastal ecosystems, coastal erosion, salination of arable lands • Increased frequency and intensity of hurricanes • flooding, wind damage, further fragmentation of habitats • Increased frequency and severity of droughts • fires, crop losses.

5. CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACT ON ECOSYSTEMS • Ecosystems will become fragmented and population sizes reduced. • Species extinction rates are already much higher in island states • Likely to be further aggravated by climate change. • Species may require human intervention for survival.

6. AGRICULTURE SCENARIO • Likely to be more severe in agriculture • Reliance on a few crops • No genetic variability within crops • No evolutionary flexibility of varieties • Reliance on imported varieties with poor adaptability • Modern varieties show limited plasticity • Seed production system not conducive to evolution

7. IMPACTS ON AGRICULTURE • Greater management interventions reqd • greater cost of production and poor profitability • Greater agricultural risk due to unpredictable weather patterns. • Lead to system of agriculture that is not sustainable. • Implications to food security.

8. Genetic Resource Management • Aims • Improve evolutionary flexibility • to allow species and varieties to evolve to climate change (prevent extinction) • Reduce Agricultural Risk and Cost of Production • Improving environmental flexibility by improving the stability of varieties • Improve adaptability

9. Genetic Resource Management • Species in natural ecosystems should be monitored for their health • genetic and biotechnology tools provide a system for monitoring. • Endangered species would require human intervention. • Conservation strategies for ecosystems.

10. Genetic Resource Management • Indigenous crop species of the Caribbean should be collected and conserved • Adapted to the Caribbean, have the greatest genetic variability and hence evolutionary flexibility. • Underdeveloped crops should be developed to provide a greater crop diversity

11. Genetic Resource Management • Rethinking the crop ideotype • Rethinking the population structure of varieties • Rethinking our seed production systems

12. Genetic Resource Management • Pre-breeding populations • Reduce agricultural risk through breeding for tolerances • Crop biotechnology • Local more diversified breeding efforts

13. A Note of the Role of Biotechnology • Biotechnology tools have provided a scientific basis for managing natural populations by studying the genetic diversity • Provide means of adaptation to new stresses in short periods of time.

14. Thank you.