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The basis for much of the opinion expressed in this paper is the experience gained from managing the activities of the Japanese government funded Trust Fund project operated by FAO from late 1993 until August 1999, coupled to earlier duties within Asia when based in FAO Headquarters in Rome. The project 'Conservation and Use of Animal Genetic Resources in Asia and the Pacific' covered twelve countries of Asia, was the first regional project and, as such, was used in many ways as a pilot project for the development of the Global Strategy. Indeed, the project was first discussed during the Committee On Agriculture (COAG) meetings in FAO, Rome in 1992 just at the time when the Expert Consultation on the Management of Global Animal Genetic Resources met and developed a series of recommendations to FAO. The countries and their known populations both prior to and at the end of the project are shown in Table 1. In fact, the twelve countries have about one third of the known breeds of livestock in the world which presented the project with some problems given the stated objectives (Table 2) and the limited ($1.8 million total) project budget.
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