The project is financed by the United Nations Environment Preservation program (UNEP) and the Global Ecological Fund (GEF). The Organization concerning the foodstuffs and agriculture of the United Nations - FAO, the International Institute of Genetic Resources of plants (Rome), the International Organization on Preservation of Botanical Gardens, the German Center of Documentation and Information of Agriculture and other organizations also participated in the project.

The chosen countries for participation in the project possess a significant amount of globally important wild relatives of cultivated plants being under a threat of disappearance, and also are "hot points" global variety, i.e. places of the highest concentration of a unique biodiversity on the planet.

- Preservation and reasonable use of wild congeners of cultivated plants is necessary for an increase in food safety, eradication of poverty and maintenance of stability of agricultural ecosystem, - the national coordinator of the project and candidate of biological science Satyvaldi Djatayev from the Institute of Genetics and Experimental Plant Biology of the Science Academy of Uzbekistan has informed UT.

Satyvaldi Jatayev has emphasized that wild congeners of cultivated plants are the source of many useful genes providing resistance of cultivated plants to illnesses and pests, to heat and drought, salinity and waterlogged of ground. Scientists also hope to improve nutritious qualities of cultivated plants by means of genes from wild congeners. All this will lower the economic expenses connected with irrigational work and use of harmful chemicals.

Previous eco-geographical expeditions in Uzbekistan already have attended spurs of Western Tien Shan and Pamirs Altai where a range of unique places of growth of wild congeners of walnut, almonds, pistachio, apple-trees, onions and barley have been discovered.

For these cultures ancient Uzbek land is the geographical center of their origin. Here their global distribution by trading caravans of camels from has begun. Seeds and cuttings also were taken out by travelers and conquerors. To Greece, for example, walnut and pistachios have been transported by Alexander the Great during his Eastern campaign. Chroniclers accompanied the emperor with admiration described the fertile grounds of Central Asia and unanimously confirmed that from Amu Darya up to Marakan (Samarkand) grows everything except for olives.

Studying of the heritage of national selectors has allowed revealing, for example, one thousand kinds of a walnut only, perspective for cultivation and the further selection work. Its first results have allowed creating cultural forms with the kernels containing over 70 percent of fat and weighing more than 13 grams each. Nut bunches formed on branches of grown up trees are as at a vineyard.

A task to sum up the expeditions is before us, - has declared Satyvaldy Djataev, - to develop national information system on wild congeners of cultivated plants, to take part in creation of the International information system in this area which will provide communication to global and national resource and to develop national plans on their preservation.