Seed Bank of Aegean Flora

Work of the Aegean Seed Bank

Throughout the year, Archipelagos’ researchers approach distant parts of the Greek seas on an ongoing effort to discover and collect seeds from local, traditional and endemic varieties. The collection process often brings us door-to-door in local communities, as locals and elderly persons in villages are often the people most knowledgeable of seed locations. They are also often the ones in possession of the important seeds.

In order to ensure preservation of Greek phytogenic material, it is also necessary to reproduce at the Aegean Seed Bank the preserved varieties. These reproduced seeds are distributed to responsible and aware farmers, so as to ensure continual cultivation of irreplaceable varieties, which have for centuries been supporting the food and nutritional needs of agricultural communities throughout Greece. The participating farmers collaborate with Archipelagos’ scientists in order to ensure that such cultivations are under safe conditions and protected from the dangers of contamination by foreign varieties. The farmers, in effect, propagate the local varieties with traditional-organic practices, free from the use of chemical pesticides and fertilizers.
Alongside these efforts, Archipelagos informs and raises awareness among island communities for the need to correctly preserve local varieties of agricultural plants, including information on farming methods that can help eradicate the dangers of contamination or the need for chemical additives and fertilizers.