What is Arca Net?

The diversity of traditional and endangered livestock breeds and cultivated plants is cared for, bred and marketed in different places and in very different institutions in Europe. This diversity can be experienced at arc farms, in open-air museums, animal parks, arboretums, variety gardens and various collections. The database-supported Arca-Net platform lists facilities that are accessible to the public in any way. The platform is designed for a wide audience and provides information about the facility, access and offers, but also information on the respective livestock breeds, their distribution, endangerment and history can be called up in the Arca-Net using the comprehensive search function in four languages. There are registered more than 600 institutions in 46 European countries. Users can find out where an arc farm is in their area and whether it has regular opening times or can only be visited, for example, after registering by phone. The managers of the respective facility should manage their entries themselves so that the entries are as up-to-date as possible. Both interested persons and the operators of the individual facilities benefit from Arca-Net.

 

How did Arca net come about?

“People can only protect and conserve what they know”. This perception led the European SAVE Foundation to develop Arca-Net, the network for institutions that conserve agrobiodiversity, the diversity in agriculture, and make it accessible to the public.
Surveys on rescue and conservation stations for rare and endangered livestock breeds by the European SAVE Foundation showed that it is often difficult to find facilities where agricultural diversity can be experienced first-hand. Agrobiodiversity hotspots are mostly to be found in remote areas, as are the farms and facilities for their lively conservation.
For those involved in the conservation of agricultural diversity, it is important to maintain contact with the public and to present the unique regional diversity of livestock breeds and cultivated plants, because love and thus support comes from the senses. Many institutions are now opening up to visitors as arc farms in different countries show. But if an arc farm was searched for at the holiday destination in order to experience the local agricultural diversity, the search turned out to be very difficult. The European Arca-Net network closes a gap here.
Since 2004 SAVE-Foundation has been collecting such publicly accessible institutions as part of various projects.
As an interactive guide to facilities that preserve ancient and endangered farm animal breeds and crops and make them accessible to the public, the places are accessible to a wide audience. This diversity can be experienced at arc farms, in open-air museums, pet parks, arboretums, variety gardens and various collections.

 

We thank

the Margarethe and Rudolf Gsell Foundation, Basel
the EU funded project ELBARN (European Livestock Breeds Ark and Rescue Net)
Mr. Hans-Peter Grünenfelder and the Grovni Foundation, St.Gallen
for their financial and practical support
as well as the many committed volunteers who are committed to Arca Net.