The movement for the conservation of endangered farm animals genetic resources ('breeds  at risk) gathered pace through the twentieth century. It started with small governmental initiatives, such as the 'Kerry Cattle Area' in Ireland, in the early years of the century, but became a powerful force in the second half of the century. The creation of the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) in 1945 and the growth from 1973 of specialist NGOs dedicated to endangered breeds generated a momentum that is recorded in a key paper in AGRI 41 (2007), "Passing on the fire - to further inspire people to contribute to the management of animal genetic resources". 

The global spread of the movement inevitably led to different priorities and variations in the interpretation of risk. Whilst that did not cause problems in some activities, it increasingly caused difficulties in Europe where regional criteria were at variance with those applied at national level. The problem had been recognised since the early 1990s but had not been addressed with any positive outcome. Therefore, in February 2010 a seminar was convened in London by Lawrence Alderson to explore the possibility of achieving harmonisation of criteria and thresholds to define FAnGR breeds at risk. Invitees to the seminar included representatives of FAO and significant policy-making organisations in Europe, and a report of the discussions was implemented and the decisions became part of FAO official policy. 

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