image: The Ark and its seed bank are an invaluable genetic resource for selecting cultivated plants resistant to diseases and climate change.
Credit: Yu-Chun Liao
[Meise, Belgium, 22 May] - In efforts to preserve plant species and help secure biodiversity within our changing environment, Meise Botanic Garden inaugurated Belgium’s new ark of seedbanks to ensure global food security and to conserve and protect plant genetic diversity.
Two out of five plants are threatened or endangered. Biodiversity is suffering and many foods may disappear from our menu. This new ark will regenerate essential plant seeds like bananas that researchers from the Botanic Garden and the Alliance of Bioversity and CIAT have collected from as far away as Australia and the Asia Pacific. This precaution is not only a security measure but an investment in our future, as these seeds hold the genetic information needed to adapt to our ever-changing world.
Dr Steven Dessein, CEO of Meise Botanic Garden, emphasized the situation's urgency: “More than 500 plant species have already gone extinct in the recent past. For them, it is too late. For plant species threatened with extinction, it is not too late. Worldwide, some 40 plants were officially labelled 'Extinct in the wild'. That is just the tip of the iceberg. But there is technologically no excuse why plant species should go extinct. Because Botanic Gardens are often their last refuge, now that their natural habitat has been destroyed, the Seed bank and Green Ark infrastructure is a very important step in the right direction, a safe haven for ten thousand plant taxa from all over the world.”
Preserving plant genetic diversity has direct implications for food security and agricultural sustainability. The new seed bank is complemented by the world banana genebank, housed nearby at KU Leuven and managed by the Alliance of Bioversity and CIAT. Alliance scientists are pioneering applied research on banana genetic diversity and its agriculture applications – particularly identifying varieties’ climate resilience and pest and disease resistance that can help farmers in Africa, Latin America, and Asia.
"Seed diversity is the cornerstone of our food security, nutrition, and climate resilience,” said Juan Lucas Restrepo, Director General of the Alliance Bioversity International and CIAT. “As global negotiations to protect the world’s biodiversity culminate at COP16 this October in Colombia, these collaborations show the importance of research and innovation to unlock the potential of genetic diversity, empowering farmers to cultivate resilience in the face of changing climates and evolving nutritional needs.”
The Ark and its seed bank are an invaluable genetic resource for selecting cultivated plants resistant to diseases and climate change. The inauguration is an opportunity to reflect on the importance of plants to ecosystems and their services to humanity. Without the plants that feed us, life is impossible. The Green Ark in Meise is a huge 7,600 m² greenhouse complex at the heart of the Botanic Garden. It houses more than ten thousand plant species from all corners of the world that Meise Botanic Garden is nurturing for future generations.
About the Organizations
Meise Botanic Garden
Meise Botanic Garden dates to 1797 and has been involved in plant research, education and conservation for more than two centuries.
The Garden takes care of more than 20,000 different living plants including several threatened species. The internationally recognized seed bank is the only Belgian seed bank specialised in storing threatened indigenous plant species. Since 2019 Meise Botanic Garden has been recognized as Advanced Conservation Practitioner by BGCI - Botanic Gardens and Plant Conservation.
Every year over 200,000 people visit the Garden.
The seed bank team and research team of Meise BG have considerable expertise in the field of conservation of wild species. The Garden has developed many tools to disseminate the knowledge on plants as well as to make the public aware of the necessity of plant research and conservation.
About the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT
The Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) delivers research-based solutions that harness agricultural biodiversity and sustainably transform food systems to improve people’s lives. Alliance solutions address the global crises of malnutrition, climate change, biodiversity loss, and environmental degradation.
The Alliance manages the International Musa Transit Center in Belgium, housed at KU Leuven.
With novel partnerships, the Alliance generates evidence and mainstreams innovations to transform food systems and landscapes so that they sustain the planet, drive prosperity, and nourish people in a climate crisis.
The Alliance is part of CGIAR, a global research partnership for a food-secure future. www.alliancebioversityciat.org