Plants are a constant in life. We need them to create the atmosphere we breathe everyday. However, they are easily destroyed. So, how can we keep good records of them? The solution is a seed-saving facility, or “Seed bank”. It collects a number of different seeds, and protects them through a pre-set environment, . What’s excellent about this is that seeds rarely go bad. This is because of seed dormancy, which allows seeds to be kept in dormancy for decades, without worry of rot or breakdown. This is the Seed bank movement. Here’s Wired Magazine’s report on this group of individuals:
Once a traditional, year-to year practice by smallholding farmers to develop sturdy varietals, this simple act of putting seed aside has more and more become the concern of international affairs and corporate policy.
“Seed saving and its role in preserving biodiversity is of utmost importance. We are in an era called the Holocene extinction, which is notable for its decline in biodiversity,” says Doherty.
In times of accelerating climate change, extinction threats and the commodification of genetic resources by agribusiness, Doherty is fascinated by the sealed, and concealed, activities of seed-saving operations across the globe.
The mos famous seed bank is the Svalbard “Doomsday” Seed Vault. This building is located on a small island off of the coast of Norway. It’s built like a bunker, just in case a sudden apocalyptic event were to happen. This may seem to be an extreme move on their part, but being prepared isn’t a bad thing. You never know what could happen. And the seed bankers understand this very well.
What makes the seed bank movement a good thing is that they exist because the users are planning for the future. They see the value in saving this material, and keeping it in a safe location. They recognize the changing environment, and are doing what they can to record their history.
Whether or not the world is actually going to end soon, this movement to save flora and it’s history will help humanity in the long run. It will help us track the flora that has lived over 10, 50, and maybe even 100 years.