Seeding The Future: How the SANBI Wild Plant Seedbank Is Saving SA’s Botanical Splendour

There are moments when I am overwhelmed by the sheer, unrepeatable genius of our natural world, particularly in the succulent Karoo. South Africa is a megadiverse country and a botanical wonderland that is home to 7% of the world’s plants.

Victoria Wilman is the seed conservation programme manager at the South African National Biodiversity Institute Wild Plant Seedbank, a member of the Biodiversity Biobanks South Africa, where she leads the South African Millennium Seed Bank Programme.

We have 23,521 unique plant taxa, a staggering 65% of which are endemic, meaning they are found here and nowhere else on Earth. This is our heritage, but also our profound responsibility, and right now, it is slipping through our fingers.

Nearly a quarter of our magnificent flora is facing extinction or is of serious conservation concern. For years, my colleagues and I at the South African National Biodiversity Institute (Sanbi) have been fighting a determined battle against threats like habitat loss and climate change.

Dedicated teams of SANBI Wild Plant Seed Bank seed collectors travel to remote regions of South Africa to collect seeds from species at risk of extinction.

 One of our key interventions in this fight is our seed bank, a genetic library of our most vulnerable species. We call the seeds “nature’s time capsules”, because each one holds the potential to grow a brand-new plant, ensuring a species is never truly gone forever.

For 24 years, our partnership with the UK’s Millennium Seed Bank has been the cornerstone of this effort, allowing us to build the skills to meticulously collect and store these precious seeds under precise conditions, dried and frozen at -20°C, where they can remain viable for hundreds of years.

Read the full article on the Daily Maverick website here: https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/opinionista/2025-11-30-were-racing-against-time-to-save-sas-botanical-splendour/ 

For more information about the Millennium Seed Bank Partnership South Africa and the SANBI Wild Plant Seedbank, please contact Victoria Wilman, SANBI Seed Conservation Programme Manager, at v.wilman@sanbi.org.za.