We hear so much about conservation and preservation, but do we really realise what is actually being done? Scientists and biologists across the world are doing their best to make us all aware of what we are doing to our planet, but I don’t think a lot of people are listening. It seems we, the human race, are doing our level best to wipe ourselves out, so it’s nice to know some people are trying to reverse things. A lot of the medicines that we use are also derived from chemicals that are produced by animals or plants, so by protecting nature we also protect the lifesaving drugs we might rely upon.


A couple of weeks ago, I produced an article for The Portugal News on the importance of seedbanks across the world, and how many samples of the world’s seeds are being preserved, not just in case of a global catastrophic event, but for research to improve ways to grow existing crops.


Portugal is doing its share

What I didn’t know at the time was that Portugal itself has a hand in this too, and I thought it important to share this information.


INIAV (National Institute for Agricultural and Veterinary Research) is the state laboratory of the Portuguese Ministry for Agriculture and the Sea, with researchers and technicians with extensive experience in the science of soil management and crop production, plant improvement, molecular biology, etc.


BPGV (Banco Português de Germoplasma Vegetal) collects, conserves and documents genetic resources, ensuring biological diversity and sustainable agricultural production, both current and future. The Portuguese Plant Germplasm Bank is one of the largest infrastructures for the conservation of genetic resources in the world, with a collection of more than 47,000 samples of 150 species and 90 genera of various plants, fibres and horticultural crops.


AL Belo Correia Seed Bank is the largest and oldest seed bank of native species in mainland Portugal and stores more than 3,700 seed samples, which aggregate more than 1,200 species and subspecies of plants from Portugal. These are stored in a refrigerated room at temperatures of -18 degrees, which preserves more than one-third of the Portuguese flora and about 60% of the protected species of mainland Portugal.


NOCTULA is an environmental consultancy company, specialised in preparing environmental impact and incidence studies, and monitoring ecological systems in wind farms, mini-hydro plants and other projects.

Credits: envato elements;

Forgive me if I have omitted to mention any other noteworthy organisations, I am simply running out of space! All these organisations are seriously committed to conserving and improving the environment, and even the WWF has been involved with Portugal since 1995, with its main objectives being to protect and restore biodiversity as well as reduce impacts to ensure sustainable development in the region.


It’s nice to know how many people are actually doing something concrete to help us help ourselves, even here in our little corner of the world.


Simply put, we cannot be healthy in an unhealthy environment, so it is in our own best interests to preserve our natural world as much as we can. The exploitation of the natural world threatens our capacity to provide sustenance for the people on earth, and things like pollution created by us are directly harmful to human health.


You can even start your own seed bank yourself, perhaps ask another gardening fan to start one too, and you could swap successfully dried seeds. The end of the growing season is usually the best time to collect seeds, and once flowers have lost their petals and the seeds are nearly dry on the plant, take off the seed heads and fully dry them, then shake or pull seeds off and collect into a container or envelope. For vegetables and fruits, use ripe food and remove the seeds manually, spread them out on a flat baking tray or similar in a warm dark room until they are completely dry. Beans, peas, tomatoes, and peppers are great vegetables for beginner seed savers who require little or no special treatment before storage.

Author

Marilyn writes regularly for The Portugal News, and has lived in the Algarve for some years. A dog-lover, she has lived in Ireland, UK, Bermuda and the Isle of Man. 

Marilyn Sheridan