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DNA Banking, Phylogeny and Conservation of the South African Flora

The DNA and Tissue Banking for Biodiversity and Conservation manual was published in 2006 by Kew and the World Conservation Union (IUCN), providing practical and legal advice for setting up DNA banking facilities for plant and animal material.

This project aims to establish a DNA bank in South Africa, using the technical and policy expertise developed by RBG Kew. It will create an invaluable archive of plant genetic diversity, holding over 2,200 DNA samples from all South African genera, and will serve as a resource for the identification of areas of high priority for conservation and to facilitate the discovery of novel genes. Working with South African conservation authorities and universities at least 10 people have been trained annually from undergraduate to postdoctorate level in biotechnologies and management of genetic resources. Dissemination of knowledge was achieved through all appropriate media, from high profile publications (e.g. a letter in Science entitled 'A plea for DNA banking') and books (e.g. a namual on DNA banking for biodiversity and conservation published by Kew in collaboration with IUCN) to electronic means such as the World Wide Web.

This project benefited from an initial grant from the Darwin Initiative, and recently further funding for 2006-2008 has been secured, also from the Darwin Initiative. Core funding or grants from South Africa are also being used to continue running the project.

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