No less than 75% of endangered native plants are conserved in the seed bank of the Meise Botanic Garden in Flemish Brabant, the garden announced on Monday in a press release.
Initially, the Meise Botanic Garden conserved seeds from 44% of endangered native plants. This percentage increased considerably due to a fruitful collaboration with the Flemish organisation Natuurpunt at the end of last year. Its seed bank now covers 75% of the species on Flanders' Red List. "This is an exceptional result, unprecedented among national seed banks within the European Union," emphasised the press release.
This success is part of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation, whose goals were adopted in 2022. "Each signatory country of the convention has committed to developing national strategies and implementing action plans aimed at preserving, protecting and enhancing biodiversity."
The Meise Botanic Garden has therefore achieved the programme's eighth objective, which is to conserve at least 75% of plant species in ex-situ collections, preferably in their country of origin.
"Since the late 1980s, the Meise Botanic Garden has maintained a seed bank for the conservation of endangered national flora," explained botanist Sandrine Godefroid. "Thanks to climate-controlled chambers, the seeds of most of our plant species remain viable for more than a century." The seeds are stored at -20°C.
The Meise Botanic Garden will continue its seed collection efforts in the south of the country to achieve a similar result for the flora on Wallonia's Red List.
In total, 2,000 botanic gardens worldwide participate in this mission.
