Virchow, D. Conservation of Genetic Resources: Costs and Implications for a Sustainable Utilization of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. Springer, Heidelberg 1999.

Born in Namibia in 1959, Detlef Virchow grew up in East-Africa and northern Germany. After high-school and various agricultural practical training courses in Canada, Southern Africa and Germany, he studied agriculture and international agricultural development in Göttingen and Berlin. He finalized his studies with a Master of Agriculture in 1988. Between 1988 and 1992, Detlef Virchow was head of the agricultural department of the Lutheran Church of Zaire in Kalemie. Following the engagement in Zaire, he wrote his Ph.D. at the Institute for Food Economics and Food Policy, University of Kiel, Germany. Since 1998, Detlef Virchow has been working as a scientist at ZEF, Bonn, the Center for Development Research. His main field of activity is the economics of biodiversity conservation and related subjects.

Over the past decade the importance of natural resources for sustainable agricultural development has been increasingly discussed at international forums and conferences. Aside from the sustainable management of soil, water, and air, it now seems to be accepted that the sustainable management of genetic resources is one of the four indispensable conditions for a sustainable agriculture. The discussion on conservation of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture, however, has to reflect the costs of conservation as well. These have not yet been discussed intensively; it also assesses the effectiveness of conservation and the efficiency of the different conservation instruments. It is based on extensive surveys in relevant countries. Following the detailed cost and impact analysis, the results show that the effectiveness of conservation strategies may be increased.