PROSPECIERARA

Their core work

ProSpecieRara is a Swiss foundation dedicated to the conservation of rare and endangered crop varieties, garden plants, and farm animal breeds. In H2020 projects, they contribute practical expertise in maintaining living collections of heritage varieties and managing on-farm conservation networks. Their work bridges the gap between gene bank preservation and real-world use of plant genetic resources by farmers and breeders. They bring decades of hands-on experience in seed stewardship, variety characterization, and community-based conservation to European research consortia.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

ProSpecieRara's early H2020 involvement (2015-2017) centered on crop diversity in local food systems and farmer-driven conservation, as seen in DIVERSIFOOD and Farmers Pride. By 2018-2021, they expanded into applied breeding for organic agriculture (BRESOV) and cross-sectoral genetic resources governance (GenRes Bridge). The trajectory shows a shift from pure conservation toward active utilization of genetic resources in sustainable food production and broader biodiversity policy coordination.

ProSpecieRara is moving from heritage crop conservation toward actively deploying genetic diversity in organic and climate-resilient agriculture, making them increasingly relevant for sustainable food system projects.

How they like to work

ProSpecieRara operates exclusively as a participant, never as coordinator, joining mid-to-large European consortia (66 unique partners across 26 countries). They function as a trusted NGO partner that brings real-world conservation networks and living seed collections to research-driven projects. Their broad partner base and consistent participation across multiple consortia suggest they are well-networked and valued for their practical, non-academic perspective on genetic resources.

With 66 unique consortium partners spread across 26 countries, ProSpecieRara has an exceptionally wide European network for an NGO of its size. Their connections span research institutions, gene banks, breeding organizations, and farmer networks across the continent.

What sets them apart

ProSpecieRara is one of very few European NGOs that maintains large living collections of rare crop varieties and connects them directly to research and breeding projects. Unlike gene banks or universities, they operate at the grassroots level with gardeners and farmers who actively grow endangered varieties, giving them access to real-world agronomic data. For any consortium needing a credible civil society partner with hands-on genetic resource management experience, they are a distinctive choice from Switzerland.

Highlights from their portfolio

• BRESOV
  Their highest-funded project (EUR 107,479) and a shift into applied organic vegetable breeding, showing their capacity beyond pure conservation.
• DIVERSIFOOD
  Their earliest H2020 project and most aligned with their core mission — embedding crop diversity directly into local food systems.
• GenRes Bridge
  A coordination-focused project bridging plant, animal, and forest genetic resources, demonstrating ProSpecieRara's ability to operate across biodiversity domains.