SANBI Wild Plant Seedbank – A Time Capsule Of Plants Past

Plant species worldwide are under threat of becoming extinct as a result of habitat loss, invasive alien plants, over-collection and more – and South Africa is no exception. That’s not good news for one of the world’s most biodiverse regions. Luckily, the SANBI Wild Plant Seedbank is here to help keep our plant diversity safe.

The SANBI Wild Plant Seedbank is one of the core biobanks of the Biodiversity Biobanks South Africa (BBSA), and, in partnership with the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew, part of the Millennium Seed Bank Partnership (MSBP), an effort to promote plant conservation and habitat restoration in South Africa.

Teams are based all around the country collecting seeds, with a particular focus on species of conservation concern, travelling to remote areas to save species on the brink of extinction, under the guidance of SANBI Seed Conservation Programme Manager Victoria Wilman.

The seeds, together with herbarium specimens and field data are collected and sent to the MSBP in the United Kingdom where they are dried and stored at – 20 °C enabling them to remain viable for possibly hundreds of years.

But with the launch of the SANBI Wild Plant Seedbank in Kirstenbosch, Cape Town,  that diversity is coming home – and the partnership is stronger than ever.

But that’s just the facts. Here’s the rest of the story….

Want to know more about the SANBI Wild Plant Seedbank or the South African Millennium Seedbank Programme? Or find out about the other BBSA partner institutions here. And while you’re at it, why not learn more about what biobanks are (and aren’t) all about?