ProSpecieRara

ProSpecieRara is a Swiss non-profit charitable foundation focused on preserving endangered traditional breeds of farm animals and heritage varieties of cultivated plants. It was established in 1982 in St. Gallen and is headquartered in Basel. The organization operates at the intersection of agricultural biodiversity, cultural heritage, conservation, and public education. Its central concern is the loss of genetic diversity caused by the concentration of agriculture around a relatively small number of high-yielding commercial breeds and crop varieties. Traditional Swiss livestock breeds and locally adapted plants can disappear when they are no longer bred, cultivated, marketed, or passed on through practical knowledge. ProSpecieRara seeks to prevent this outcome by supporting the continued use of these resources rather than treating conservation solely as storage or archival work. The foundation encourages and assists the breeding of traditional animal breeds and the cultivation of heritage crops. Its work includes maintaining networks of breeders, growers, gardens, farms, zoos, and other conservation partners. Through these relationships, rare animals and plants remain present in living production and educational settings. The organization also helps producers with marketing, an important part of making conservation economically viable and giving consumers access to products connected with endangered breeds and varieties. In addition to biological conservation, ProSpecieRara preserves and communicates the knowledge associated with traditional agriculture. This includes practical knowledge about breeding, cultivation, propagation, and the historical role of plants and animals in Swiss rural life. Public access is supported through a network of 52 locations, including botanical gardens and zoos, where traditional animals and crops can be encountered and explained. ProSpecieRara's work is primarily national in scope and is tied closely to Switzerland's agricultural and cultural landscape. At the same time, the foundation participates in wider European conservation cooperation as a network partner of the SAVE Foundation. Its activities therefore connect local Swiss conservation work with broader efforts to protect rare breeds, crop diversity, and the genetic resources needed for resilient agriculture. The ProSpecieRara name represents a conservation-oriented institutional brand rather than a conventional consumer-goods company. Its public role is to coordinate, support, and explain the preservation of agricultural biodiversity, while its practical impact comes through the breeders, growers, producers, and public institutions that maintain living examples of traditional genetic resources.

ProSpecieRara was founded in 1982 in St. Gallen as a Swiss foundation concerned with the conservation of cultural and genetic diversity in plants and animals. Its creation reflected growing concern that modernization and specialization in agriculture could eliminate traditional breeds and varieties that had developed through long-term local selection and adaptation. The foundation's conservation model is based on keeping genetic resources alive in practical use. Rather than limiting its work to collections or documentation, ProSpecieRara encourages the breeding of rare farm animals and the cultivation of traditional crops. This approach requires cooperation with farmers, breeders, gardeners, public institutions, and other custodians who can maintain the relevant organisms over time. A further part of the organization's development has been its attention to the economic and cultural conditions that determine whether rare breeds and varieties survive. ProSpecieRara supports producers with marketing, helping connect conservation work with consumers and viable agricultural activity. It also preserves and disseminates knowledge about the plants and animals, recognizing that genetic material alone is insufficient if the techniques and traditions associated with it disappear. The foundation has supported or maintained a network of 52 locations where traditional animals and crops can be made accessible to the public. These sites include botanical gardens and zoos, as well as other settings in which visitors can see rare breeds and varieties in a living context. Public visibility helps communicate the significance of agricultural biodiversity beyond specialist conservation circles. Although its work is centered on Switzerland, ProSpecieRara is connected to international conservation efforts through its role as a network partner of the European SAVE Foundation. This relationship places its Swiss activities within a wider European framework for safeguarding endangered breeds and cultivated varieties. The organization's history is therefore best understood as the development of a coordinated conservation network: it identifies and supports endangered agricultural genetic resources, works with the people who maintain them, assists their market presence, and makes them available for public learning. The available reference material does not provide a detailed chronology of later leadership changes, individual conservation projects, or financial developments.

• 1982

  Foundation established in St. Gallen

  [1]ProSpecieRaraen.wikipedia.org

  ProSpecieRara was established in St. Gallen as a Swiss charitable foundation dedicated to conserving the cultural and genetic diversity of plants and animals.

• Headquarters based in Basel

  [1]ProSpecieRaraen.wikipedia.org

  The foundation's headquarters are located in Basel, Switzerland.

• European conservation network partnership

  [1]ProSpecieRaraen.wikipedia.org

  ProSpecieRara became a network partner of the European SAVE Foundation, linking its Swiss conservation work with broader European efforts to protect rare breeds and varieties.

• Public conservation network developed

  [1]ProSpecieRaraen.wikipedia.org

  The organization maintains or supports a network of 52 public-access locations, including botanical gardens and zoos, where traditional animals and crops can be encountered.

A Swiss agricultural-biodiversity foundation that combines living conservation, producer support, cultural heritage, and public education to protect endangered traditional animal breeds and crop varieties.

• Living genetic-resource conservation

  Traditional Swiss farm-animal breeds

  ProSpecieRara supports the continued breeding of endangered or declining traditional farm-animal breeds in Switzerland. The work is carried out through networks of breeders and other custodians, with the goal of preventing extinction and retaining genetic resources connected to Swiss agricultural history.

• Heritage crop conservation

  Traditional crop varieties

  The foundation supports the cultivation and preservation of traditional cultivated plants and heritage crop varieties. Its approach keeps varieties in active cultivation and helps retain the practical knowledge needed for their propagation, management, and continued use.

• Conservation-linked agricultural support

  Producer marketing support

  ProSpecieRara assists producers whose work contributes to the conservation of rare breeds and varieties. Marketing support helps connect agricultural biodiversity with consumers and improves the prospects that conservation activities can be sustained through real economic use.

• Education and public access

  Public conservation locations

  Through a network of 52 locations, including botanical gardens and zoos, ProSpecieRara makes traditional animals and crops visible to the public. These sites provide educational and cultural access to living agricultural biodiversity.

1. 1ProSpecieRaraen.wikipedia.org
2. 2ProSpecieRara official websiteprospecierara.ch