|
Seeds |
By saving, exchanging, and reusing seeds over thousands of years,
farmers and gardeners carefully selected crops for various traits
adapted to many growing conditions and climates, creating a rich genetic
plant heritage that formed the base of the global food supply.
Over the last century, however, this
agricultural biodiversity has undergone a rapid decline, with many
heritage and native plant species being replaced with commercial crop
varieties. The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that
some 75 percent of plant genetic diversity has been lost due to the
rapid expansion of industrial agriculture and monoculture (single crop)
farms. The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment reports that 60,000 to 100,000 species of plant are currently threatened with extinction.
Revitalizing the practice of seed saving is vital for the world’s
collective food security. Conservation techniques, such as the creation
of seed banks and seed exchanges among farmers, gardeners, and even
nations, play an important role in not only preserving ancient, heirloom
varieties of important food crops, but also in mitigating against the
increasing risks of pests, diseases, and climate change.
The laws and regulations regarding seed saving and exchange practices
are changing worldwide. Many farmers groups, nonprofit organizations,
and governments are working to conserve and enhance seed diversity
through seed banks, exchange networks and cooperatives, and educational
programs. Food Tank is highlighting 20 important seed-saving projects
across the globe that are helping preserve agricultural biodiversity.
1. ASEED Europe
ASEED Europe (Action
for Solidarity, Equality, Environment, and Diversity Europe) is an
international campaigning organization focused on the decline of
biodiversity in agriculture, the availability of seeds, and corporate
concentration in the food system. Established in 1991 by young, engaged
citizens committed to social and environmental justice, ASEED Europe
campaigns for the preservation of both cultural and biological
diversity, and promotes discussion on critical emerging issues in the
food system. ASEED also provides educational materials and training on
topics such as seeds, climate change, trade, and food sovereignty.
2. Camino Verde
Camino Verde
is a United States-based nonprofit with locations in Concord,
Massachusetts, and Puerto Maldonado, Peru. Camino Verde’s mission is to
protect and understand biodiversity and indigenous rights through
planting trees and providing educational programs for public awareness.
The initiative’s Living Seed Bank acts as a botanical garden with more
than 250 tree species, protects endangered varieties, and provides an
arena for further research into multi-species agroforestry systems.
Camino Verde has planted almost 15,000 trees over 75 hectares of land,
while preserving 640 hectares of land through conservation partnerships.
3. Hawai’i Public Seed Initiative
The Hawai’i Public Seed Initiative (HPSI), created by The Kohala Center and funded by the Ceres Trust, works
with communities, farmers, and gardeners statewide to select, grow,
harvest, store, and improve seed varieties that thrive in Hawai‘i. HPSI
has held workshops on Hawai‘i Island, Kaua‘i, O‘ahu, Maui, and
Moloka‘i, bringing together hundreds of farmers and gardeners for
education, information sharing, and network building. HPSI works to
develop community seed networks and conduct education, research, and
outreach programs designed to identify and save seed varieties best
suited for Hawai‘i’s soils and climates, providing greater food security
for the region.
4. International Center for Tropical Agriculture
The International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), a member of the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research (CGIAR),
is dedicated to developing techniques, technologies, and methods to
enhance eco-efficiency in agriculture primarily for small farmers in
tropical regions. CIAT conducts crop research with its extensive
genebank, which holds the largest global collection of beans, cassava,
and tropical forages, with more than 67,000 crop samples. CIAT provides
seed samples free of charge to any individual or organization anywhere
in the world for the purposes of research, breeding, or training, and
has so far distributed more than half a million seed samples to more than 160 countries.
5. Irish Seed Savers Association (ISAA)
The ISSA
was founded in 1991 and now protects more than 600 non-commercially
available varieties of seeds in its seed bank. ISSA locates rare
varieties of fruits, vegetables, flowers, and grains and selects
varieties suitable for Ireland’s unique growing conditions after
conducting extensive research in their gardens. ISSA provides seeds to
members and runs workshops to inform and teach individuals how to save
seed, increase food self-sufficiency, and encourage greater food
security for future generations.
6. Louisiana Native Plant Initiative
The Louisiana Natural Resources Conservation Service began the Louisiana Native Plant Initiative
to collect seeds, preserve native varieties, increase flora abundance,
and research plant materials for future revegetation projects. Louisiana
is home to a plethora of endangered varieties of plants such as the
longleaf pine, switchgrass, big bluestem, and partridge pea. The
initiative has spearheaded several new conservation projects combining
public and private managers in order to release native plants for
commercial production.
7. Man and the Biosphere Programme
Launched in 1971 under the supervision of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB Programme)
aims to conserve biological resources by improving the relationship
between humans and the environment, and researches the effects that
human activity and climate change have on the biosphere. Today, with the
help of the MAB Programme, there are 669 biosphere reserves categorized
in 120 different countries. The MAB Programme promotes the exchange of
knowledge on biological and environmental problems and solutions, and
utilizes international, regional, and sub-regional partnerships to
increase their global intelligence work.
8. Millennium Seed Bank Project, Wakehurst, England
The Millennium Seed Bank Partnership, started by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew,
is the largest plant conservation project in the world, and aims to
conserve 25 percent of known plant species in the form of seeds by 2020.
Focused on conserving seeds from plants that can be used for food
production, the Millennium Seed Bank Partnership has saved more than 10
percent of the world’s wild plant species, prioritizing the most
threatened species. At present, the bank houses more than 80,000 seed
collections, representing more than 37,600 species from more than 330
families.
9. Native Seed / SEARCH
Native Seed / SEARCH (NS/S)
is a nonprofit organization dedicated to seed conservation in the
Southwest United States and Northwest Mexico. Based in Tucson, Arizona,
NS/S has grown to acquire a state-of-the art conservation facility, with
more than 1,900 varieties of aridland-adapted seeds, and a reputation
as a leader in heirloom conservation. Their seed bank currently houses
varieties of traditional crops such as corn, beans, and squash once used
by the Apache, Havasupai, Hopi, Maricopa, Mayo, and many other
cultures. NS/S aims to maintain the genetic purity of these
traditional, wild strands of crops, while also engaging in significant
conservation efforts in the Sierra Madre mountain range.
10. Navdanya
Navdanya is a research-based initiative founded by Dr. Vandana Shiva,
a world-renowned scientist and environmentalist. Navdanya, meaning
“nine seeds” in Hindi, is a network of seed keepers and organic
producers across 18 states in India that have helped set up 122
community seed banks across the country and provided training to more
than 500,000 farmers. They also conduct research on sustainable farming
practices at their own organic farm in Uttarakhand, North India.
Navdanya has collected roughly 5,000 crop varieties, primarily staples
such as rice, wheat, millet, kidney beans, and medicinal plants, and
also offers courses on biodiversity protection, agroecological
practices, water conservation, and more.
11. National Laboratory for Genetic Resources Preservation, Fort Collins, Colorado
The National Laboratory for Genetic Resources Preservation (NCGRP),
located on the campus of Colorado State University, is home to one of
the world’s largest plant and animal gene banks. The center is unique in
that it hosts various types of genetic information including plants,
animals, aquatic organisms, insects, and microorganisms. In its plant
division, the laboratory manages more than 10,000 plant species in both
long-term storage and on fields, orchards, or nature reserves. The NCGR
strives to ensure that its seeds maintain their viability for decades to
centuries for the long-term preservation of genetic resources.
12. New York City Native Plant Conservation Initiative
In 2008, the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation (DPR), in partnership with the Brooklyn Botanic Garden (BBG), started the New York City Native Plant Conservation Initiative
in an effort to promote and conserve diverse native plant species.
Launched with 34 endangered species, the initiative hopes to preserve
New York City’s biodiversity and generate awareness surrounding the
conservation of urban plant varieties. Activities include collecting
seed of NYC native species for seed banking, preparing and implementing
protocols for restoration and management of native plant populations,
and raising public awareness of the status of native plants in NYC,
among others.
13. The Australian Plantbank
The Australian Plantbank, formerly NSW Seedbank, began in 1986 as an initiative to collect wild seeds for the Australian Botanic Garden
in Mount Annan. Over the last three decades, the seed bank has grown to
save and preserve both common Australian native seeds as well as rare
and threatened plant species. As one of the most biodiverse seed banks
on the planet, the Australian Plantbank holds more than 10,400 seed
collections of many of the 25,000 native Australian plant species. As an
educational facility, the Australian PlantBank has been designed so
that visitors can experience the “journey of the seed” and learn about
the important conservation work of scientists.
14. Seed Savers Exchange
Seed Savers Exchange (SSE)
is a nonprofit organization dedicated to saving and sharing heirloom
seeds. Headquartered in Decorah, Iowa, Seed Savers Exchange began in
1975 and its seed bank is now one of the largest in North America,
maintaining a collection of more than 20,000 different varieties of
heirloom and open-pollinated plants. Individuals and organizations
become members of the seed bank and SSE facilitates communication and
exchange of seeds among members. SSE also maintains seed banks at the
National Center for Genetic Resources Preservation in Fort Collins,
Colorado, as well as at the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Norway. SSE
also offers services to nonmembers through the sale of more than 600
heirloom varieties.
15. Seedsave.org
Seedsave.org is
the online home of The Rocky Mountain Seed Alliance (RMSA) co-founders
Bill McDorman and Belle Starr, who conceived and founded the original
Seed School in 2010. As former co-directors of Native Seeds/SEARCH,
McDorman and Starr produced nearly two-dozen Seed School and other seed
courses nationwide, and graduated more than 900 students from around the
world. Their latest initiative, Seed School Online,
is the first-ever web-based presentation of the Seed School program,
presented through weekly webinars covering topics such as an
introduction to genetics, seed selection, harvesting, germination,
breeding, and practical applications of seed saving knowledge.
16. Slow Food International
Slow Food International
is a movement that began in the mid-1980s to give individuals an
alternative to fast food and fast lives. The Slow Food Foundation for
Biodiversity was created in 2003 as a subcategory of their Terra Madre
initiative to increase and preserve food biodiversity. The Foundation’s
Ark of Taste program collects regionally and culturally significant food
products to catalogue and promote their global consumption.So far, more
than 4,000 products have been catalogued internationally, including the
Pampin Mamey Sapote, native to Central America. Slow Food is calling for new legislation on seeds that promotes traditional and heirloom varieties with the effective protection of biodiversity.
17. Svalbard Global Seed Vault
The Svalbard Global Seed Vault,
also known as the doomsday vault, rests approximately 1,100 kilometers
(700 miles) south of the North Pole. The vault acts as a sort of
insurance policy for other seed banks around the world, only accessing
the seeds if the original is destroyed. The Seed Vault can hold up to
2.25 billion seeds in total, equaling 500 seeds of some 4.5 million crop
varieties. Priority for space in the vault is given to seeds that can
ensure food production and sustainable agriculture, and the collection
is primarily composed of seeds from developing countries. The seed vault
is managed by the Norwegian government, the Global Crop Diversity Trust, and the Nordic Genetic Resource Center.
18. USC Canada
USC Canada,
formerly Unitarian Service Committee, works internationally to build
resilience through ecological agriculture across five strategic areas:
seed security and biodiversity, climate change adaptation and
mitigation, rural economies, gender equality, and young farmers. USC
Canada’s core program Seeds of Survival (SOS)
maintains partnerships in farming communities in 12 countries around
the world, promoting crop biodiversity and ensuring a secure source of
food and livelihoods for small-scale farmers. USC Canada also developed Seedmap.org,
an interactive and comprehensive online tool to explore where
agricultural biodiversity originated, where it is threatened, and where
different strategies to safeguard it have been developed over the world.
19. Vavilov Research Institute, Russia
Located just behind Saint Isaac’s Cathedral, in St. Petersburg, the Vavilov Research Institute
(VRI) was founded in 1921 and has since expanded into 12 research
stations throughout Russia. It is the world’s oldest and largest seed
bank, housing a combined total of 60,000 seed varieties, and their
herbariums contain some 250,000 of cultivated plant specimens and their
wild relatives. Specializing in berries and other fruits, the VRI holds
more than 5,000 varieties. According to journalist Fred Pearce, nearly 90 percent of these seed and plant specimens are not found in any other research collection or seed bank in the world.
20. The World Vegetable Center (WorldVeg)
The World Vegetable Center (WorldVeg)
is a nonprofit organization dedicated to alleviating poverty and
improving nutrition through extensive research and outreach. AVRDC aims
to improve the livelihoods of poor rural and urban households through
the creation of more efficient vegetable varieties combined with
effective production methods. Now the world’s largest public vegetable
germplasm collection, the WorldVeg Genebank holds more than 61,000
accessions from 155 countries, including about 12,000 accessions of
indigenous vegetables. The
AVRDC Vegetable Genetic Resources Information System (AVGRIS) is a database containing information about the germplasm collections.
No comments:
Post a Comment