Most likely, many species of fodder plants, fruit trees, medicinal plants and vegetable have been domesticated in Southern Italy. The results of a study carried out by the Germplasm Institute of Bari, Italy, indicate that there are more than 520 species in Southern Italy which are being cultivated for various purposes, including food. The growing attention to minor species and local varieties stemming from a general interest in agricultural diversification in the Mediterranean basin, represents an opportunity for setting up projects of collection, conservation, evaluation, and sustainable use of their biodiversity. Two complementary strategies are followed and envisaged by international agreements: in situ and ex situ conservation. Both of them deserve consideration because each of them compensates the weaknesses of the other. Their integration in the sole tool which allows to preserve the richness of threatened plant forms that represent a valuable heritage on which the survival of humanity depends.