Status and future of seed conservation of threatened plants in the post-2020 era

A Ensslin; A Clemente; U Liu; E Zippel; C Pinto-Cruz; C Sanchez Romero; S Schneider; A Agut Escrig; C Allender; K Annamaa; M Antic; B Asset; G Bacchetta; O Baranzani; A Barata; P Bardin; J Bavcon; ADF Belo; M Belovarska; K Benkhelifa; C Berg; KG Bernhardt; M Beza; K Bjureke; S Bohm; P Borgmann; J Borrell; S Buord; J Cambecedes; F Carruggio; A Carta; P Casimiro; T Chapman; I Cicova; R Crisnaire; A Cristaudo; L De la Rosa; M Delmas; G Desheva; V Di Cecco; L Di Martino; K Diadema; L Dixon; D Dostatny; M Duval; RK Eberwein; M Etxeberria-Okariz; C Favier; N Fenby; MP Fernandes; I Ferrando-Pardo; P Ferrer; N Fort; L Forte; CF Freitas; A Gailite; K Galej-Ciwis; RM Garcia; AI García-del Bao; C Gautier; B Gelvonauskis; GP Giusso del Galdo; MA González Pérez; J Gourvil; L Gouveia; T Helminger; B Hermosilla Lorenzo; L Hugot; M Hyvärinen; I Janžekovič; A König; N Krigas; E Laguna; L Lapébie; D Larpin; M Lazarević; D Lifshitz; V Lipa; C Lobo; U Lohwasser; S Loriot; S Magrini; F Mantino; M Mariotti; E Matiatou; L Mendel; M Millet; M Miranto; A Mondoni; S Moreno Vázquez; V Negri; P Nick; M Niemczyk; H Nobrega; P Olejniczak; M Pałucka; K Papanastasi; I Papanikolaou; MAA Pinheiro de Carvalho; M Porceddu; S Porevis; P Poschlod; L Raggi; S Rancane; L Rasran; B Ravnjak; S Rivière; A Roumier; A Rucińska; F Schlatti; M Schmidt; GX Seznec; M Sim-Sim; AL Soares; N Stoeckl; S Strajeru; G Stukeniene; A Šušek; A Titze; S Trinder; Z Tsvetanova; T Van Hintum; N Van Rooijen; M Vicens Fornés; M Villani; S Villegas; Fiona Jane White; S Zachago; E Zappa; V Zsigmond; S Godefroid

doi:10.1002/ppp3.70177

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Status and future of seed conservation of threatened plants in the post-2020 era

Journal article

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Status and future of seed conservation of threatened plants in the post-2020 era

A Ensslin, A Clemente, U Liu, E Zippel, C Pinto-Cruz, C Sanchez Romero, S Schneider, A Agut Escrig, C Allender, K Annamaa, …

Plants, People, Planet, Vol.Early View, pp.1-15

Early View

2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp3.70177

Handle:

https://hdl.handle.net/10863/52024

Abstract

Volunteer network

Threatened plants

Seed banking

Red list status

GSPC Target 8

ex situ conservation

Societal Impact Statement Ambitious targets have been set to backup seeds of threatened plants by the global strategy for plant conservation (GSPC), but it is unclear in how far these targets have been met and how seed collection should be organized to meet future challenges. Here, we provide an overview of the status of 44 countries in achieving seed conservation targets. We show that progress varies strongly across countries, but in general, targets of the 2011–2020 GSCP have not been reached. By a regional example, we illustrate how seed collection could be organized to safeguard our threatened flora. Summary * Seed banking of wild plants is a central pillar of conservation strategies for threatened plants. Target 8 of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC) called for at least 75% of threatened plant species to be conserved ex situ by 2020, but to what extent countries have achieved this target is unclear. Consequently, it is unknown how seed banking should be organized in future to safeguard plant diversity and support the increasing demand for seeds for habitat restoration. * We conducted a comprehensive survey across 44 countries in Europe and western Asia and collected information on seed bank stocks of native taxa. We harmonized the taxonomic names across the collections and matched them against a database of national plant Red Lists to assign each taxon its IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) threat status in its country of origin. We analysed each country's achievement in terms of the conservation of its threatened flora and evaluated the quality of the collections in terms of genetic representativeness and seed quantity. * We found that none of the studied countries had reached Target 8 of the GSPC by 2020. While a few countries had come close to it, on average only 21% of threatened taxa were conserved across countries. * Our results demonstrate that the current seed conservation strategy has not met conservation demands. Using an example from Belgium, where considerable progress has been achieved by investing in a network of volunteer seed collectors, we show how future seed collection could be organized in collaborative community-based approaches.

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Title: Status and future of seed conservation of threatened plants in the post-2020 era
Creators: A Ensslin - Conservatory and Botanical Garden of the City of Geneva
A Clemente - University of Lisbon
U Liu - Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
E Zippel - Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin
C Pinto-Cruz - University of Évora
C Sanchez Romero
S Schneider - Nature Conservation Agency
A Agut Escrig
C Allender - University of Warwick
K Annamaa - Centre of Estonian Rural Research and Knowledge
M Antic - University of Banja Luka
B Asset - Conservatoire Botanique National Méditerranéen de Porquerolles
G Bacchetta - University of Cagliari
O Baranzani - Agricultural Research Organization
A Barata - Portuguese School of Bank Management
P Bardin - Conservatoire national supérieur de musique et de danse de Paris
J Bavcon - University of Ljubljana
ADF Belo
M Belovarska - Forest Research Institute
K Benkhelifa - Centre Inria de l'Université de Lorraine
C Berg - University of Graz
KG Bernhardt
M Beza - Kostrzyca Forest Gene Bank
K Bjureke - University of Oslo
S Bohm - Radboud University Nijmegen
P Borgmann - Osnabrück University
J Borrell - Universitat de Girona
S Buord - Conservatoire Botanique National Méditerranéen de Porquerolles
J Cambecedes - Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées
F Carruggio - University of Bari Aldo Moro
A Carta - University of Pisa
P Casimiro - Missouri Botanical Garden
T Chapman - Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
I Cicova - National Agricultural and Food Centre
R Crisnaire - Real Jardín Botánico
A Cristaudo - University of Catania
L De la Rosa
M Delmas - Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle
G Desheva - Institute of Plant Physiology and Genetics
V Di Cecco - Bank of Italy
L Di Martino - Bank of Italy
K Diadema - Conservatoire Botanique National Méditerranéen de Porquerolles
L Dixon - Conservatoire Botanique National Méditerranéen de Porquerolles
D Dostatny - National Horticultural Research Institute
M Duval - Conservatoire Botanique National Méditerranéen de Porquerolles
RK Eberwein - University of Klagenfurt
M Etxeberria-Okariz - Ayuntamiento de San Sebastián
C Favier - Université de Corse Pascal Paoli
N Fenby - University of Warwick
MP Fernandes - University of Évora
I Ferrando-Pardo - Wildlife Information Liaison Development
P Ferrer - Wildlife Information Liaison Development
N Fort - Conservatoire Botanique National Méditerranéen de Porquerolles
L Forte - University of Bari Aldo Moro
CF Freitas - Missouri Botanical Garden
A Gailite - Latvian State Forest Research Institute "Silava"
K Galej-Ciwis - Polish Botanical Society
RM Garcia - Spanish National Centre for Cardiovascular Research
AI García-del Bao
C Gautier - Conservatoire Botanique National Méditerranéen de Porquerolles
B Gelvonauskis - Valstybinių Miškų Urėdija
GP Giusso del Galdo
MA González Pérez
J Gourvil - Fondation Pour la Recherche Sur la Biodiversité
L Gouveia - Agencia Regional da Energia e Ambiente da Regiao Autonoma da Madeira
T Helminger - Musée National d'Histoire Naturelle
B Hermosilla Lorenzo
L Hugot - Université de Corse Pascal Paoli
M Hyvärinen - Finnish Museum of Natural History
I Janžekovič - University of Maribor
A König - Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau
N Krigas - Interbalkan Medical Center
E Laguna - Wildlife Information Liaison Development
L Lapébie - Conservatoire Botanique National Méditerranéen de Porquerolles
D Larpin - Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle
M Lazarević - University of Belgrade
D Lifshitz - Agricultural Research Organization
V Lipa - Real Jardín Botánico
C Lobo - Agencia Regional da Energia e Ambiente da Regiao Autonoma da Madeira
U Lohwasser - Leibniz-Institut für Pflanzengenetik und Kulturpflanzenforschung (IPK)
S Loriot - Conservatoire Botanique National Méditerranéen de Porquerolles
S Magrini - Università degli Studi della Tuscia
F Mantino - University of Bari Aldo Moro
M Mariotti - Australian National Botanic Gardens
E Matiatou - Hernia Center
L Mendel - National Agricultural and Food Centre
M Millet - Conservatoire national supérieur de musique et de danse de Paris
M Miranto - Finnish Museum of Natural History
A Mondoni - University of Pavia
S Moreno Vázquez
V Negri - University of Perugia
P Nick - Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
M Niemczyk - Polish Academy of Sciences Botanical Garden – Center for Biological Diversity Conservation in Powsin
H Nobrega - Universidade da Madeira
P Olejniczak - Institute of Nature Conservation
M Pałucka - Kostrzyca Forest Gene Bank
K Papanastasi - Interbalkan Medical Center
I Papanikolaou - Central Botanical Garden
MAA Pinheiro de Carvalho
M Porceddu - University of Cagliari
S Porevis - Central Botanical Garden
P Poschlod - University of Regensburg
L Raggi - University of Perugia
S Rancane - Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies
L Rasran
B Ravnjak - University of Ljubljana
S Rivière - Landscape Institute
A Roumier - Conservatoire Botanique National Méditerranéen de Porquerolles
A Rucińska - Polish Academy of Sciences Botanical Garden – Center for Biological Diversity Conservation in Powsin
F Schlatti - University of Klagenfurt
M Schmidt - Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau
GX Seznec - Centre Inria de l'Université de Lorraine
M Sim-Sim - Sustainability Institute
AL Soares - University of Lisbon
N Stoeckl
S Strajeru - Ştefan cel Mare University of Suceava
G Stukeniene - Polish Botanical Society
A Šušek - Finnish Museum of Natural History
A Titze - Philipps University of Marburg
S Trinder - University of Warwick
Z Tsvetanova - Forest Research Institute
T Van Hintum - Genetic Resources Center
N Van Rooijen - Radboud University Nijmegen
M Vicens Fornés
M Villani - University of Padua
S Villegas - Real Jardín Botánico
Fiona Jane White - University of Pavia
S Zachago - Osnabrück University
E Zappa - Australian National Botanic Gardens
V Zsigmond - Institute of Ecology and Botany
S Godefroid - Meise Botanic Garden
Publication Details: Plants, People, Planet, Vol.Early View, pp.1-15
ISSN: 2572-2611
Series / Volume: Early View
Publisher: Wiley
Number of pages: 15
Identifiers: (UNIBZ)93987640
991007295853401241
Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-105033072203
Copyright: This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in anymedium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.© 2026 The Author(s). Plants, People, Planet published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of New Phytologist Foundation.
Academic Unit: Faculty of Agricultural, Environmental and Food Sciences
Language: English
Resource Type: Journal article
Author Names String: Ensslin A, Clemente A, Liu U, Zippel E, Pinto-Cruz C, Sanchez Romero C, Schneider S, Agut Escrig A, Allender C, Annamaa K, Antic M, Asset B, Bacchetta G, Baranzani O, Barata A, Bardin P, Bavcon J, Belo ADF, Belovarska M, Benkhelifa K, Berg C, Bernhardt KG, Beza M, Bjureke K, Bohm S, Borgmann P, Borrell J, Buord S, Cambecedes J, Carruggio F, Carta A, Casimiro P, Chapman T, Cicova I, Crisnaire R, Cristaudo A, De la Rosa L, Delmas M, Desheva G, Di Cecco V, Di Martino L, Diadema K, Dixon L, Dostatny D, Duval M, Eberwein RK, Etxeberria-Okariz M, Favier C, Fenby N, Fernandes MP, Ferrando-Pardo I, Ferrer P, Fort N, Forte L, Freitas CF, Gailite A, Galej-Ciwis K, Garcia RM, García-del Bao AI, Gautier C, Gelvonauskis B, Giusso del Galdo GP, González Pérez MA, Gourvil J, Gouveia L, Helminger T, Hermosilla Lorenzo B, Hugot L, Hyvärinen M, Janžekovič I, König A, Krigas N, Laguna E, Lapébie L, Larpin D, Lazarević M, Lifshitz D, Lipa V, Lobo C, Lohwasser U, Loriot S, Magrini S, Mantino F, Mariotti M, Matiatou E, Mendel L, Millet M, Miranto M, Mondoni A, Moreno Vázquez S, Negri V, Nick P, Niemczyk M, Nobrega H, Olejniczak P, Pałucka M, Papanastasi K, Papanikolaou I, Pinheiro de Carvalho MAA, Porceddu M, Porevis S, Poschlod P, Raggi L, Rancane S, Rasran L, Ravnjak B, Rivière S, Roumier A, Rucińska A, Schlatti F, Schmidt M, Seznec GX, Sim-Sim M, Soares AL, Stoeckl N, Strajeru S, Stukeniene G, Šušek A, Titze A, Trinder S, Tsvetanova Z, Van Hintum T, Van Rooijen N, Vicens Fornés M, Villani M, Villegas S, White FJ, Zachago S, Zappa E, Zsigmond V, Godefroid S

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