Millennium Seed Bank Project Saves
Genetic Diversity for Posterity

Last fall, volunteers in the Midwest collected 10,000 to 20,000 seeds from each of 40 species of prairie plants — all part of a dramatic enterprise called the Millennium Seed Bank Project. But that was just the beginning. The Chicago Botanic Garden (CBG) hopes to harvest seeds from a total of 1,500 local native plant species during the next four years. Some seeds will be banked at the Garden, and some will be sent to London's Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. Last fall, BP America Inc. awarded the Chicago Botanic Garden a $100,000 grant that will be used to fund personnel, equipment, and material for the project.

The Project, founded in 1997, has already banked seeds from nearly all of the United Kingdom's native plants. Program founders envisioned an insurance policy for global biodiversity, to preserve the genes of native species in the event that local populations disappear and regional seed banks fail.

The Chicago Botanic Garden is helping to collect seeds from ten percent of plants (about 24,000 species) from the world's drier areas by 2010. The countries that are currently participating (at least 15 nations) can share in the use of seeds, research results, and other benefits of the program.

Kayri Havens, CBG Director of Conservation Science, cautioned that seed banking is not a substitute for habitat preservation. "A seed bank, while it serves as an insurance policy, is no guarantee that we would be able to reintroduce those plants successfully. In order to reintroduce them successfully, we need appropriate habitats...Habitat protection is essential."

The CBG is looking for volunteers who enjoy fieldwork and have a basic knowledge of plant names to help collect seeds. Volunteers will receive training. Contact Havens at (847) 835-8378 or khavens@chicagobotanic.org.

— Betsy J. Green