This weekend (22 and 23 November), the Germplasm Bank of Botanical Garden of the Universitat de València will organize some activities to show the work of these scientist facilities keeping genetic material for its propagation. Nowadays, they are the key to protect the natural heritage of any territory and they are supposed to be like some “back-up” copy of diversity of natural flora.
This Botanical Garden bank is regarded in the Decreto de Flora Valenciana Amenazada as the head office of the Germplasm Bank of Wild Flora of the Valencian Community, to protect on a long term seeds and spores of native species, especially those which are endangered. This institution focuses on the protection of species and scientist research in this field. Its intense activity is reflected on the collaboration of many European and national research projects.
The protection of biodiversity requires a big effort, invisible to the rest of the world. Every protection measure that is taken in this territory (usually called as protection in situ) begins in the scientist facilities as the Botanical Garden of the Universitat de València where the conservation is realized in situ. This second part is the storage and seeds preservation, germination trial and its incorporation to all life plants in the garden. The scientific knowledge of these species, which are really sensitive in their environment, also depends on that Germplasm bank can have its research material without damage the plants in there.
This Germplasm Bank, which has been working since 1991, grew up in 2000 thanks to its move to the new research building of the Botanical Garden and the improvement of the infrastructure that it supposed. However, the seed’s exchange tradition, that is now responsibility of germplasm bank, started at the middle of 19th century through Index Seminun, a seed catalogue which is offered every year to the botanical gardens worldwide (more than 1,000 institutions in 48 countries), with the aim to establish a free exchange. The Botanical Garden of València published its first seed catalogue in 1862 and until now, this activity continues under the same conditions, although now it has better facilities and objectives much more ambitious. In the past as much as nowadays, it is one of the main ways of growing live collections in botanical gardens and also it is a way of getting material for the development of research studies.
With these open days, entitled Bancs de llavors, rebosts de vida (Seeds banks, life pantry) it pretends to get close to the audience, through talks, workshops and projections, the important role that these institutions realise and promote the botanical knowledge of seeds and their value, scientific as much as cultural. In this event there will be also stand out institutions as the CIEF (Centro para la Investigación y Experimentación Forestal; Forest Experiment Research Centre) of Consellería de Infraestructuras, Territorio y Medio Ambiente (Department of Infrastructure, Territory and Environment, Germplasm bank of COMAV (UPV) and Llavors d’Ací Association.
Last update: 21 de november de 2014 07:00.
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