- Seeds from 19 species of African trees have been added to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Norway.
- The trees were selected by the World Agroforestry Center for their value to communities across Africa.
- Traditional seed preservation and institutional seed banks are vulnerable to damage.
- The seeds deposited in Svalbard in February add to a vast collection intended to secure the world’s vital genetic heritage against any eventuality.
On Feb. 25, the World Agroforestry Center (CIFOR-ICRAF) deposited seeds representing tree species of special value to communities across Africa in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. The 19 species represented included 13 native to Africa and six others that have found a place in the economies and ecologies of the continent.
Among the trees selected were the baobab (Adansonia digitata), which people in several African countries prize for its edible fruit and leaves, and the incredibly versatile Faidherbia albida — its roots enrich soil with nitrogen, its leaves are fertilizer and fodder for livestock; it can provide shade for crops like coffee, or give up its branches for fuel; the seeds it produces in the dry season can be eaten.
Baobabs also play an important role as shelter and habitat for a variety of wildlife. Their massive trunks and extensive root systems create microhabitats for birds, insects and small mammals.
Across Africa, forests are under pressure. According to Ramni Jamnadass, principal scientist and senior adviser at CIFOR-ICRAF, unsustainable harvesting and agricultural expansion claims almost 4 million hectares (9.9 million acres) every year, urbanization fragments forest patches and climate change affects viable growing zones. “This combination threatens not just forest cover but genetic diversity itself, as localized adaptations and unique traits disappear with each lost population,” she told Mongabay.
Storing seeds in the vault at Svalbard complements her institution’s many other research and reforestation activities — securing the genetic heritage of the seeds deposited there against any eventuality.
“The value extends beyond species-level conservation to protecting irreplaceable genetic diversity within species,” she said, “including locally adapted landraces and ecotypes that have developed specific drought tolerance, disease resistance or soil adaptations over generations. These genetic variants, often the product of both natural selection and traditional management practices, represent biological adaptations to local conditions that would be impossible to re-create if lost.”
CIFOR-ICRAF scientists have collected seeds from wild tree populations as well as trees growing in farmers’ fields. In some places, the institution works in collaboration with Indigenous groups and local seed networks; in others, it sources contributions from research centers, botanic gardens and breeding programs.
“We identify mother trees with superior characteristics, ensure seeds represent the population’s genetic diversity,” Jamnadass said, “and we often collect from multiple trees within a population to capture genetic variation.”
Abasse Tougiani, a researcher at Niger’s National Institute of Agronomic Research of Niger has been involved in several reforestation projects in his country. He said seed storage at the individual or community level often faces several challenges.
“Regarding traditional seed storage, conditions are sometimes not ideal for proper preservation. Often, storage facilities do not meet standards and, sometimes, granaries are used for seed storage. As a result, temperature fluctuations occur, which affect seed viability and significantly reduce germination rates.”
Depositing seeds at Svalbard helps to secure them against future needs, he told Mongabay. “For storage like in the Svalbard Seed Vault, we have the advantage of no power cuts, no temperature fluctuations and regular checks of seed viability and germination rates.”
Jamnadass said it’s not only individuals and communities who lack the resources to securely save seeds. Scientific institutions also struggle with high maintenance costs, continuous regeneration needs and staffing requirements for proper seed conservation.
Nestled deep within the Arctic permafrost on the island of Spitsbergen, the Svalbard Global Seed Vault was conceived as a backup facility for the world’s agricultural biodiversity. The vault currently holds duplicates of 1.3 million seed samples from nearly every corner of the world. CIFOR-ICRAF was the first institute to deposit tropical tree seeds in Svalbard, and after today, will have sent seeds from 180 species to the vault for safekeeping.
Banner image: Stephen Kenduiwo, a member of a local conservation group in Kenya’s Mau Forest, holds up an indigenous tree seed in 2017. Image by Patrick Shepherd/CIFOR via Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
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