Noah’s arks in the XXI century. A typology of seed banks

Abstract

In recent decades, seed banks have spread out worldwide as essential institutions for biodiversity preservation, like new Noah’s arks. However, little is known about the diversity of practices that are involved in them. The aim of this study is to reconstruct the dynamics of operation of the different seed banks, developing a typology of them worth providing. As sources for that aim, in-depth interviews to seed banks referents, documents and other materials related to seed banks have been used. First, we describe three stages which seed conservation has undergone until it became modern seed banks. The impact of the Convention on Biological Diversity and its debate context are considered. We analyze the knowledge involved in seed banks which turn them into more than just seeds reservoirs. Afterwards, we study how seed banks are used. From the functioning of seed banks and their objectives, we have identified three bank profiles: assistentialist, productivist and preservationist profiles. Finally, we analyze a series of cases that allow us to show the type of seed banks we have proposed. Policy implications are discussed.