genetic time capsule in an english garden

   Photo credit: ©National Trust Images/Jim Holden

Thank goodness for the seed banks of this world. The threat of extinction affects about 1 in 5 of the world’s plant species. This makes the work of seed banks a vital safety net for dealing with the problems of food security, disease, climate change and biodiversity loss. The seed collections can be used for all kinds of research, plant breeding, species re-introduction and vegetation restoration.

The Millennium Seed Bank in West Sussex collects species that are most threatened and potentially most useful. With the help of partners in 95 countries, the seed collections constitute the largest and most diverse wild plant species genetic resource in the world.
Scientists focus on plants that are:

• from alpine, dryland, coastal and island ecosystems - most vulnerable to climate change 
• from arid locations - can tolerate being dried out and frozen for many years. Those from moist tropical areas are harder to store 
• endemic to their location (not found elsewhere), trees, crop wild relatives, or endangered 

Using the state-of-the-art techniques, the seeds are prepared, dried and stored in a vault maintained at -4°F.  The massive vault, located underground, is flood, bomb, and radiation-proof, and protected by alarms and automated systems. It is home to 2.3 billion seeds. Currently, the seed collections represent over 40,000 species, from almost 5,800 genera and more than 360 families.

That leaves the problem of the tropical plants, mainly trees and shrubs, where half cannot be dried. Research is underway to develop novel methods for such seeds, and plans for a large-scale Cryosphere are in the works.

We are blessed by the work of the Millennium Seed Bank and the other 1000+ seed banks in the world. Some notable seed banks are The Svalbard International Seed Vault (the “Doomsday Vault”) in Norway; The Vavilov Institute of Plant Industry (established1894) in Russia; and more locally, Rae Selling Berry Seed Bank in Portland Oregon. Vital work!