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Selection criteria
  

The Sheep Trust develops a priority list of Heritage Breeds of the UK - this is currently under revision

Our mission is to ensure protection for those breeds that are:

  • geographically concentrated - see the maps that prove concentration of our heritage breeds

    -the breed is highly geographically restricted and therefore vulnerable
      
  • important for their environmental adaptation

    - providing a key means of income and sustainability for the rural communities of the regions in which the breeds flourish
     
  • important for their genetic distinctiveness

    - providing an essential genetic resource and contribution to biodiversity
     

These parametres are included in those used by the United Nations and the FAO in taking forward an international programme on conservation of farm animal genetic biodiversity through the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).

Breed scores are on a scale of 1 to 8 and arise from:

  • geographical concentration: based on the extent to which a breed is isolated to one geographical area and therefore placed at risk by a disease such as Foot & Mouth and the resulting control policies

  • environmental adaptation: based on the extent to which the breed is restricted to a particular geographical region and may therefore be adapted to that environment and used in environmental habitat management

  • genetic distinctiveness: based on proposed genetic distance, phenotype and performance criteria


 
The Sheep Trust, a charitable company limited by guarantee.
Company Number 4284999, Charity Number 1094514.
Registered office: Department of Biology, University of York, York YO10 5DD, UK,