Using stored seeds for plant translocation: The seed bank perspective

Billions of seeds from wild species are currently stored in hundreds of conservation seed banks around the world. Plant translocation from these seeds is a key conservation priority and one of the targets of the UN's Global Strategy for Plant Conservation. How these seeds are used for plant translocation and what obstacles seed banks encounter has not been investigated. To explore this issue, we circulated a questionnaire across international networks, complemented with a literature review on plant translocation from stored seeds. We received responses from 104 seed banks in 34 countries. Just over 70 % had previously used their collections for plant translocation, with a median of 12 translocations per seed bank. The main limitations for translocation were identified as “funding” and “resources”, with a lack of seeds and expertise also mentioned as obstacles. Only 11 seed banks had no constraints on their ability to carry out plant translocation. With 96 % of respondents indicating they would like to carry out future plant translocations, there is a willingness by seed banks to use their collections more extensively, but a lack of funding and resource availability is limiting the full potential for translocation activities. The literature review identified 12 articles which specified that seed bank stored seeds were used for plant translocation, suggesting that plant translocations from ex situ seeds are rarely published in the scientific literature. Our results indicate that if nations are to achieve their international conservation targets, funding and resources for the use of banked seeds should be prioritised.

Publication year:2023