ASIA-PACIFIC

The Asia-Pacific region is losing its
rich livestock resources,
thanks to the indiscriminate
use of Western technology
and rapid population
growth, says the Food and
Agriculture Organization
(FAO). FAo has launched a
new project, named Conservation and Use of Animal
Genetic Resources i4 Asia
and the Pacific.

Thirty-six per cent of the
total number of' animal
breeds in the world are
found in this region. But it
has not been looking after
them well enough. A's a
result, at least 51 species
are now on the verge of extinction.

"The major problems
relating to the region's agriculture sector are, the need
to improve local breeds (of
livestock), to provide adequate food for these breeds
and to tackle the various
endemic diseases that have
wrought a deteriorating
effect on animals," says the
World Watch List for
Domestic Animal Diversity, a
journal jointly published by
the FAo and the United
Nations Environment Programme. Animal genetic
resources are crucial for the
permanence of productivity
of global agriculture. "This
simply means that ... some
day, perhaps sooner than we
think, there simply may not
be enough to eat," says Dr
David E Steane, head of the
FAO's new programme.