Seed Banking goes hand in hand with Seed Saving. At it’s basic level it is keeping a repository of seed in an optimum condition in order to preserve the genetic ‘library’ in case there should be some unforseen catastrophy.
There are ‘worldwide’ seedbanks as well as national seedbanks. What we propose is the formation of a network of local or ‘regional’ seedbanks. We are not either talking about long-term ( in the sense of locking seeds up for years or decades), but for the next growing season, or the seasons after that . More of a relativly short term repository.
A national seed bank is a place where seeds are stored to preserve genetic diversity for the future. They are usually flood, bomb and radiation-proof vaults holding jars of seeds from different plant species.The seeds kept in optimum conditions – at low humidity and in cold conditions, around -20°C. This helps to preserve the seeds, ensuring they can still grow when they are needed later.
More than 1,000 seed banks exist around the world, varying in type, size and focus. The largest in the world is the Millennium Seed Bank in Sussex, managed and coordinated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. It opened in 2000 and holds seeds from almost 40,000 species around the world, including nearly all the UK’s native trees and plants. Another huge seed bank is The Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Sweeden.
Why do we have seed banks?
Globally, it’s estimated that 40% of plant species are vulnerable to extinction. A seed bank is a form of insurance, a way of maximising the number of plant species we can save from this fate. This is more essential now than ever before. Plants are under threat from many factors, including:
- habitat loss
- climate change
- pollution
- pests and diseases
- War
- Agricultural monoculture
The rate of their impact is also increasing, leading to an ever-greater risk of an incremental and catastrophic loss. We are potentially losing plants faster than we are discovering them.
How long do seeds survive in a seed bank?
In theory, seeds stored in national vaults like Kew and Svalbard could last 100’s of years.
What are the seeds used for?
Seeds stored at the bank may be owned by the collectors or the curators, and the owner will have the final say on the use of the seeds.
Some banks only store seeds related to agricultural crops as insurance against genetic loss in our food varieties. Others only hold seeds from rare species and may be very selective on how these seeds are used. Or they might hold many seeds for various purposes, from restocking populations to research projects and plant breeding programmes.