The diversity of microorganisms and invertebrates, which are important in agricultural and food industry and as associated biodiversity, shall be conservated in long term. The conditions for their sustainable and innovative use shall be improved in the areas of taxonomy, culture, collection and others.

Measures

To achieve this goal, it is necessary:
•    To maintain the widest possible habitat diversity
•    To protect terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems from pollution
•    To further develop sustainable use systems
•    To strengthen investigation of genetic diversity, relationships and interactions of
      microorganisms and invertebrates in soil and water
•    To research the causes of threat and the effects of climate change on microorganisms
      and invertebrates in greater depth
•    To promote innovations for the sustainable use of microorganisms and invertebrates
•    To establish a documentation and information system on the occurrence and genetic diversity
      of microorganisms and invertebrates
•    To support collection activities
•    To intensify international exchange of findings in this context
•    To better inform the public about the significance of the biological diversity of microorganisms

Collections

The Leibniz Institute DSMZ - German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures is one of the world's largest bioresource centres. It currently contains about 50.000 cultures, including over 27.000 different bacterial strains and 4.000 fungal strains. At universities and in departmental research institutions of the BMEL there are sometimes significant collections of microorganisms in the form of reference and work collections for research purposes.

Natural history and scientific institutions, such as the Senckenberg Museum for natural history in Görlitz or the Munich State Zoological Collection, dispose valuable collection material on invertebrates.

Many properties and capabilities of microorganisms and invertebrates, which enable improvements in agricultural production systems and food processing, are still waiting to be discovered. The expansion of infrastructure for innovative research of this diversity is therefore an important measure.