Hamburg hosted the 32nd General Assembly of the European National Coordinators for Animal Genetic Resources, bringing together 42 participants from 29 European countries, including national coordinators, technical advisors, NGO and FAO representatives, as well as the ERFP Secretariat. The two-day event concluded with a visit to the Tütsberg Landscape Conservation Farm.
The first day focused on the internal activities of the network, including budget approval, progress reporting, future planning, and elections. The Steering Committee introduced Srdjan Stojanovic (Serbia) as the new Chair of the In Situ Working Group, succeeding Holger Göderz (Germany). The General Assembly warmly thanked Holger for his leadership and commitment over the past three years.
This year’s meeting also marked an important milestone with the election of AZRRI (Croatia) as the future ERFP Secretariat. AZRRI will take over from Idele (France) on January 1, 2027. On this occasion, ERFP Chair Danijela Bojkovski expressed her gratitude to Coralie Danchin (Idele), Éléonore Charvolin (INRAE), and Lauriane Llareus (Idele) for their dedication and the work accomplished in support of the network.
The second day highlighted several initiatives and projects dedicated to animal genetic resources, including Albania’s “1000 Villages” initiative. Sipke Hiemstra, on behalf of the EURC EAB consortium, recalled what were its main achievement. Finally, Montserrat Castellanos (Spain), former ERFP Chair, shared an overview of the tools, achievements, and successful approaches developed in Spain to support local breeds.
Her announcement of retirement came as a surprise to many members of the community. Throughout her career, Montse has been a strong advocate for the conservation of local breeds and played a key role in the creation and promotion of the “razas autóctonas” brand, which has become a source of inspiration for many countries. Her dedication has left a lasting mark on the sector, and while she will be greatly missed, the ERFP network will undoubtedly continue to benefit from her expertise whenever opportunities arise.
All the presentations are available here.