Saving Land: Desert seed bank expands to support conservation
A $3.19 million expansion of the Mojave Desert Seed Bank will help conservationists tackle the urgent need for native seed to conserve the unique biodiversity of California deserts.
Desert ecosystems cover around one quarter of the state and suffer from significant drought, severe weather and precipitous loss of habitat and wildlife. A California Wildlife Conservation Board grant will support the expansion of the Mojave Desert Seed Bank, which is managed by the accredited Mojave Desert Land Trust from its Joshua Tree headquarters.
The new funding will enable the Seed Bank to collect, process and store seed representing 300 taxa over the next four years. This will expand the facility’s current capacity to 500 taxa — approximately 20% of desert flora. Over the next four years, the Seed Bank aims to collect over 2,000 pounds of seed and make it available for restoration across the region.
The four-year expansion effort will include creating an inventory of California desert seed for use in restoration projects throughout the region, ensuring tribal engagement in seed collecting methods and protocols, and developing protocols that can be shared with the larger conservation community.
“Seed banks are a crucial tool for the preservation of regional biodiversity, helping us safeguard our flora against species extinction and restore habitats and ecosystems with genetically appropriate, source-identified seed. This project will allow us to better address the region’s seed needs and the growing threats caused by climate change and habitat loss,” says Madena Asbell, director of plant conservation programs at the Mojave Desert Land Trust.