Millennium Seed Bank behind the scenes

The Millennium Seed Bank Project: Supporting global plant conservation activities

Seed banking is one in a series of tools that can be employed in the conservation of plant species. Seed banking cannot directly protect biological diversity of ecosystems, but it can ensure the protection of diversity between, and within, plant species. In particular, banking seeds provides a last resort for the protection of plant species that are condemned to extinction. In doing so it balances the greatly increased certainty of short-term survival against the risk of genetic stasis and reduced adaptation. Seed banks also provide many further benefits that directly support the wider range of plant conservation activities.

The Millennium Seed Bank Project also endeavours to implement the letter and spirit of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). It supports the CBD Work Programmes on Access and Benefit Sharing and Dry and Sub-humid Lands, and is working to meet targets set in the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation.

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Back up to: Millennium Seed Bank Zone

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