Millennium Seed Bank Project

San Diego County is a recognized biodiversity hotspot with an incredibly diverse native flora. This diversity is under constant threat from habitat loss and fragmentation, particularly from intensive coastal development. Without concerted conservation efforts, many native plant species will decline or disappear within our lifetime, with subsequent impact on plant communities and the native animals that depend on them.

Seed banks can provide vital insurance against species extinction or local extirpation by conserving plant germplasm for research and restoration. Stored seed resources can buffer native populations against natural catastrophes such as wildfires and protect against the erosion of genetic diversity by land development and habitat fragmentation. The The San Diego Zoo's Applied Plant Ecology Division is working in partnership with Kew Royal Botanic Gardens to collect and bank a conservation collection that encompasses each of the 1,556 native plant species in San Diego County. The first of its kind in the region, Applied Plant Ecology adds an invaluable new dimension to the San Diego Zoo's living collections, one that parallels our world-renown Frozen Zoo® in both philosophy and practice. This program allows staff to provide professional expertise to governments, researchers, and concerned citizens, as well as serving as a repository for San Diego County’s native plants in support of long-term conservation and restoration efforts.