The Orchid Seed Stores for Sustainable Use (oSSSu) is a three-year initiative of the UK Darwin Initiative project, with the main objective of establishing a global network of banks of orchid seeds, initially focusing on those biodiversity “hotspots” in Asia and Latin America. As of this writing, there are 20 participating institutions in 16 countries. In the longer term, our goal is to include a greater number of institutions from around the world, and especially from African countries. We are confident that good quality dry orchid seed has the potential to survive for many decades under conventional seed bank temperature conditions of around -20 C. Participating institutions have received seed storage tubes, along with the funds to purchase a specifically dedicated chest freezer as well as some of the necessary consumable supplies. A series of protocols have been agreed, which for the first time will allow the comparison of seed germination of more than 250 species of orchids from tropical and temperate countries covering a wide range of habitat types in a single germination medium (Knudson C ) and compare them with their long-term viability. The role of OSSSU in both ex-situ and in situ conservation is illustrated by the case of Cattleya quadricolor, a Colombian endemic. The history of C. quadricolor is something very familiar: loss of habitat combined with illegal harvesting of this beautiful species due to commercial interests. However, here we have a project in which all the pieces of the orchid conservation puzzle fit exactly together: an updated Red List for Colombian orchids that would be of great help in targeting rare and threatened species, a Plan National Action for Cattleya species, participation in OSSSU, a group of amateur and professional growers with the necessary knowledge to germinate the seeds for the project and be able to produce seedlings,
Orchid seed stores for sustainable use: A model for future seed-banking activities
Year: 2011
