European Reference Centre For Endangered Animal Breeds
About EURC-Endangered Animal Breeds
The European Union Reference Centre for Endangered Animal Breeds (EURC-EAB) is responsible for the scientific and technical contribution to the establishment and harmonisation of methods for the preservation of endangered breeds, and the preservation of the genetic diversity existing within those breeds, in accordance with Article 29(2) of Regulation (EU) 2016/1012.
The application for the EURC-EAB is made by a consortium of three partner organisations: Wageningen Livestock Research (WLR, the Netherlands, Coordinator), Institut de l’Elevage (IDELE, France) and the Federal Office for Agriculture and Food (BLE, Germany) and officially started operating on January 1st 2023. EURC-EAB’s main activities are described in detail in its Work Programme 2023-2024.
“Effective breeding programmes are very important for maintaining the variety of rare farm animal breeds in Europe. This is how we maintain genetic diversity within the breeds and thus ensure that these breeds remain usable in the future”
— Sipke-Joost Hiemstra (Wageningen Livestock Research/Centre for Genetic Resources, the Netherlands)
The consortium
The consortium led by Stichting Wageningen Research, Wageningen Livestock Research, (WLR, the Netherlands), which comprises Institut de l’Elevage (IDELE, France) and the Federal Office for Agriculture and Food (BLE, Germany) was designated as EURC-EAB (EU 2022/2077) and has started officially operating on January 1st 2023.
The scope of Regulation (EU) 2016/1012 is limited to breeding animals of bovine, porcine, ovine, caprine and equine species, and therefore the activities of EURC-EAB are related to endangered breeds of those animal species only.
