Camel biodiversity—and how to conserve it

Camel biodiversity—and how to conserve it 

The strengths of the camel in a planetary scenario of rising temperatures are its drought and heat resilience, ability to convert thorny plants into milk, and general capacity for food production in challenging environments. When camels are kept in industrial systems and fed optimized rations, they lose these qualities. In order to maintain camel genetic diversity, we need to support the pastoralist communities that have developed this asset by providing them with secure grazing rights and access to value chains. 

This approach would serve the dual goals of in-situ conservation as well as enhancing food security and rural livelihoods. In an ideal world, the wealthy actors whose breeding practices undermine camel biodiversity would extend their support and throw their weight behind the poor communities that conserve it and have created an important part of our human biocultural heritage.

Implications

• The existing genetic diversity camels is the result of traditional breeding practices and culturally embedded utilization patterns of camel breeding ethnic groups.
  
• Many camel breeding communities experience threats to their traditional management systems due to alienation of customary grazing areas and unfavorable policy environments.
• “Modern” breeding practices such as embryo transfer and cloning narrowing the camel gene pool.
• To maintain genetic diversity in camels and their ability to produce food in challenging environments, in-situ conservation by camel herding communities needs strengthening.
• The affluent countries eroding camel biodiversity should support communities in poor countries that conserve camel biodiversity.