Partners
4 parterns from two different countries participate in this project focused on the study of the endemic flora of northern Iberian peninusla.
Cantabrian territory leader: Jardín Botánico Altántico (JBA) (MSB partner)
The “Jardín Botánico Altántico” (JBA) will be a key partner for the ex situ conservation of the Cantabrian territory flora, as it is the main seed bank and botanical garden in the Spanish Eurosiberian region, and is strategically located in the middle of the Cantabrian territory, in Gijón. Also it will play a key role in the development of an integral database for the project, in the dissemination of the results at national level and in displaying the plants. Its staffs have an outstanding knowledge of the flora and vegetation of the Cantabrian Region and have been actively contributing to the in situ and ex situ conservation of Cantabrian region flora for several decades. They also coordinate the Cantabrian Network for Flora Conservation in “Sociedad Española de la Biología de Conservación de Plantas (SEBICOP)”.
Project Coordinator partner: Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew (Millennium Seed Bank (MSB))
The Millennium Seed Bank, located at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew’s country garden of Wakehurst Place, is the world’s largest facility devoted to the banking of wild species. It holds over 50,000 collections of more than 30,000 species held to internationally accepted standards. Currently, the MSB has 128 partner organisations in 54 countries, many established under legally-binding agreements. It has one of the world’s largest seed research group and one of few that is linked to a seed bank of this size. The Kew Gardens Horticulture Department is based at Kew (London) and Wakehurst Place (Sussex) and is internationally recognised for its primary role in maintaining living collections and plant-based elements of the Kew estate's historic landscape.
The MSB will play a key role in the technical coordination of the project. It will be relevant for the duplication of seed material outside Spain and in the development of germination and cultivation protocols for several endemic species, and for dissemination of project publicity at international level.
