Members are representatives of private and public organizations.
The principle aim of the CPC is to promote conservation of genetic diversity of cultivated plants. The main task of the secretariat is the coordination and information of the activities in crop genetic resources conservation at the national level. For this purpose the secretariat collaborates with all institutions involved in the conservation and utilization of cultivated plants. One of the first tasks of the CPC was to undertake an inventory of all organizations and institutes involved in describing species and the number of accessions conserved. The Swiss Commission for the Conservation of Wild Plants, a Scientific Commission of the Swiss Botanical Society, was founded in 1991.