Courses

The Applied Plant Conservation Course is a free professional training designed for conservation professionals, land managers, and researchers working to safeguard rare and endangered plants. Developed by the Center for Plant Conservation and its network of experts, the course provides comprehensive training on the science and practice of plant conservation and stewardship, including seed banking, reintroductions, genetics, horticulture, and more. Through dynamic video lessons, practical tools, and real-world case studies, participants gain the skills needed to apply evidence-based approaches that ensure the survival of imperiled plant species.

A core part of CGIAR’s work is strengthening the global genebanks community so that more people can access the crop diversity they need. The following online courses are available:

• Genetic Resources Policies: This online course will help you to appreciate how daily operations of genebanks and breeding programmes are affected by national and international laws and organizational policies governing access to, and use of, plant genetic resources and related information.
• Seed Quality Management: This online course covers the underlying biology of seed development and germination, the latest scientific discoveries and practical steps to improve seed viability and longevity.

This module is the first in the BGCI Botanic Garden Basics series and looks at how to define a botanic garden. This course is aimed to participants who are interested in setting up or developing a botanic garden.

By the end of this module you will:

• Be able to define a botanic garden
• Understand the history of botanic gardens
• Understand why botanic gardens are important
• Recognise the different key roles that a botanic garden plays
• Understand what a vision and mission is and how to develop one for your organisation

The International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture addresses the issue of Farmers’ Rights in Article 9, and in its Preamble. The International Treaty advises Contracting Parties to protect and promote Farmers’ Rights in accordance with national laws.

This course examines its origins and treatment in the International Treaty and presents somepractical activities for the realization of Farmers’ Rights.

This course offers certificate

This course gives an overview of what it takes to establish and manage a genebank, providing an outline of genebank operations with particular respect to pre-breeding. The need for linking genebank operations with pre-breeding is emphasized and problems are addressed. The module also explains the methods used to prepare and accomplish collecting missions and describes the main issues related to the proper organization of a genebank. An overview of the processes of day-to-day management is provided.

You will learn about:

• The purpose of genebanks and thir role in strengthening food security and sustainable agricultural production
• The methods used to prepare and accomplish collecting missions
• Linkages between genebank operations with pre-breeding
• The main issues related to the proper organization of a genebank and the related process of day-to-day management

This module is the third in the BGCI Botanic Garden Basics series and provides an introduction to the environmental policies and frameworks relevant for botanic gardens. It is aimed at botanic garden curators/collection managers/data managers who are interested in an introduction to international environmental policies and how these might be implemented in botanic gardens.

By the end of this module you will:

1. Have an understanding of the main international policies and frameworks that are relevant to the work of botanic gardens, including: 
   • The Convention on Biological Diversity
   • The Global Strategy for Plant Conservation
   • Access and Benefit Sharing
   • The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species
   • The Sustainable Development Goals
2. Understand how such policies are implemented at the national level
3. Appreciate the importance of these policies to the work of botanic gardens
4. Know what policies and guidelines should be implemented in your garden to ensure compliance with these international frameworks and policies.

This module is the second in the BGCI Botanic Garden Basics series and looks at how to develop a master plan for your site. This course is aimed to participants who are interested in setting up or developing a botanic garden.

By the end of this module you will:

• Have an appreciation of what a master plan is
• Recognise why a master plan is important
• Recognise what the main components of a master plan are
• Understand the process for developing a master plan
• Recognise the importance of stakeholder consultation

This course explains and defines pre-breeding and its context, identifying the situations to which it is best applied and its possible limitations. The potential of prebreeding to make optimal use of the benefits represented by plant genetic resources is also outlined. The module introduces the criteria to define when pre-breeding is an advisable option, and introduces basic concepts of plant biology and genetics necessary to set up a successful pre-breeding programme.

You will learn about:

• The potential of pre-breeding to make optimal use and benefits represented by plant genetic resources (PGR)
• Defining pre-breeding context and examples of applications
• Identifying the situations to which pre-breeding is best applied and its limitations
• Genetic control of trait expression and plant reproductive biology
• Application of basic biological knowledge to pre-breeding

This course introduces learners to the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. Adopted in 2001, the treaty provides a legally binding framework for conservation and sustainable use of all plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (PGRFA), balancing the interests of developed and developing countries, as well as a broad range of further stakeholders.

This course offers a certificate and is available in multiple languages

This course introduces the principles and practices of collections data management for staff at botanic gardens and plant conservation institutions, particularly those at newer or less-resourced organizations. Participants will gain a foundational understanding of how to develop or improve a data management system and how to digitize existing records.

The course explores the connection between collections policy and data management, emphasizing the importance of accurate, well-maintained data. Learners will examine which data fields are essential for effective record-keeping, explore various approaches to managing and storing data, and understand the value and methods of sharing collections data with other institutions.

By the end of this module you will:  

• Understand the link between collections policy and collection data management  
• Understand the importance of recording and maintaining collections data  
• Recognise which data should be held and why  
• Be familiar with the different ways this data can be stored, presented and kept up-to-date  
• Be able to understand which fields are important for storing collections data  
• Know how and why data should be shared with other institutions (share your data on PlantSearch) 

This course provides an introduction to plant collection policy for botanic curators/collection managers/data managers, who are interested in an introduction to plant collection policy and how this might be implemented in botanic gardens. It looks at policy, purpose and how to develop a collection.

By the end of this module you will:

• Understand the purpose of having a plant collection policy  
• Have an understanding of your plant collection  
• Have developed a strong processes for identifying you collection  
• Have practiced aspects of plant collections 
• Have a basic tool to create a plant policy framework to achieve accreditation

This module explains why it is necessary to plan ahead in a pre-breeding programme. It covers the range of issues that need to be considered before embarking on a pre-breeding programme, stressing the importance of adopting a participatory approach. The module also explains the importance of documenting outputs, assessing outcomes and using this information in future planning exercises.

You will learn about:

• Planning a pre-breeding project by identifying the elements of the project plan as well as understanding the importance of a participatory approach
• Identifying the management tasks for an efficient and effective project
• Describing the process of monitoring and evaluation of a pre-breeding project

This course explains why parental selection is important and how it can be done effectively based on various types and sources of data and information. The issues associated with transferring traits from non-adapted germplasm sources are described. The module also illustrates how segregating populations are handled and how the desired traits are maintained in future generations of crossing and selection. Finally, the unit explains how genes of interest can be identified and tracked using a variety of methods and technologies.

You will learn about:

• The importance of parental selection and the main methods based on genotypic and phenotypic information.
• Recognizing the issues regarding the use of exotic germplasm for breeding.
• The general principles of managing segregating populations generated from parental crossing according to the particular type of crop.

This module addresses issues of how pre-breeding products are used, either in full-scale breeding programmes or directly by society, industry etc. Some background information on how pre-breeding practitioners should build uptake pathways to ensure impacts are provided. The module also discusses the range of legal instruments that can affect pre-breeding programmes and the movement of germplasm across national boundaries. It covers Intellectual Property Rights as related to germplasm use and sale, and to associated information.

You will learn about:

• Identifying the best way to get pre-breeding products to the markets and clients
• The “new product development“ approach for generating and commercializing pre-breeding intermediate products
• The range of regulatory issues, international policies and rules that affect establishment and success of a pre-breeding programme

This course has been developed to support countries in the analysis and reporting for SDG Indicators 2.5.1 and 2.5.2. These indicators measure the achievement of SDG target 2.5, which focuses on maintaining genetic diversity of seeds, cultivated plants and farmed and domesticated animals and their related wild species. The course illustrates the fundamental concepts upon which the methodology is based.

You will learn about:

• Understanding the concept of genetic resources for food and agriculture, how to conserve these resources and the main threats to plant and animal diversity
• Discusses how to monitor, conserve and report on plant genetic resources, as well as how to interpret SDG Indicator 2.5.1 from WIEWS
• Discusses how to monitor, conserve and report on animal genetic resources, as well as how to interpret SDG Indicators 2.5.1 and 2.5.2 from DAD-IS

Seed analysts must know the basic nature of seeds and the terminology associated with them before they can do analytical work effectively. It is the purpose of this course to give insights to the structures of seeds and the flowers from which they come. These structures will be used to identify seeds of the different species.

Seed that comes from the field is never pure, it contains sticks, stems, debris, soil, weed and other crop seeds, trash, and insects. In its simplest form, conditioning is the process of cleaning the seed and removing impurities and contaminates so that the end user receives pure, high-quality seed ready for planting. This course is first in a series which will walk you through foundational concepts of seed conditioning.

Seed conditioners play a unique role in modern seed production. Conditioners have the power to increase the quality of poor seed, and decrease the quality of good seed. While a grower has the ability to fine tune the conditions under which the seed crop is grown with fertilizer and water inputs, pest control and tillage to maximize quality, it is up to the conditioner to create the highest quality product out of what they are given. This course is second in a series which will walk you through foundational concepts of seed conditioning.

This lesson discusses the importance of plant breeding through history, how one would recognize if the seed they are conditioning is protected by intellectual property rights; and more importantly, what are the mandatory best practices for seed conditioners when handling plant variety protected seed. This course is third in a series which will walk you through foundational concepts of seed conditioning.

Seed conditioners process, handle and store seed. All these actions may influence the quality of the seed and therefore the conditioner may share in potential liability should the seed quality be compromised, contaminated or damaged during possession. Documenting the contents of seed received helps protect the conditioner from potential liability. Seed sampling should occur at multiple stages of receiving, processing and handling; it is important to select a representative sample of a seed lot. When a sample is created and viewed by conditioning personnel or sent to a testing laboratory the results obtained from the test are used to indicate the overall quality of the entire lot, make decisions as to what machinery should be used and eventually how to label the finished product. As a result, using a careful and representative method of sampling is required. This course is fourth in a series which will walk you through foundational concepts of seed conditioning.