GREEN-IT member Ana Maria Barata joins the advisory board of Svalbard Global Seed Vault
Credits to Crop Trust
The largest backup facility for the world’s crop diversity, the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, now counts with GREEN-IT member and coordinator of the Portuguese Plant Germplasm Bank Ana Maria Barata as a member of the vault’s International Advisory Board.
“This Advisory Board has the mission of supporting the activities of the World Bank, working as a direct support channel to the depositor countries, in regards to management and operations in the Svalbard Seed Vault”, explains Ana Maria Barata.
The Svalbard Global Seed Vault’s main purpose is to backup gene bank collections to secure the foundation of the world’s future food supply. The Seed Vault stores duplicates of seed samples from the world’s crop collections as a safeguard against a catastrophic loss, holding 1 145 693 duplicates of seed varieties from almost every country in the world, with room for millions more.
“It is with immense pride that I accept the invitation to integrate the Advisory Board of the Svalbard World Germplasm Bank – Svalbard Seed Vault. This invite is an honor to Portugal, as well. It is the result of all the work developed throughout four decades, by the infrastructure of INIAV, IP, responsible for the conservation of plant genetic resources: the Portuguese Plant Germplasm Bank” states Ana Maria Barata.
Ana Maria Barata has been the coordinator of the Portuguese plant germplasm bank since 1998. Located in Braga, the Portuguese plant germplasm bank is one of the largest infrastructures for the conservation of genetic resources in the world, keeping a collection of more than 47 000 samples of 150 species.
