The Press Enterprise: Growing seed bank is ‘Noah’s Ark’ for Southern California desert plants
“This seed bank acts as an insurance policy — or, if you want to look at it a different way, like Noah’s Ark,” Godoy said. “When there is a need for that seed, our mission is to have it ready and here and in prime condition.”
Still, so far, the Mojave Desert Seed Bank is safeguarding less than 10% of the plant species found in our local deserts.
“We don’t think of the desert as this really lush, biodiverse forest,” said Kelly Herbinson, joint executive director of the Mojave Desert Land Trust. “But it really is. In fact, we have a higher level of biodiversity than many pine forest ecosystems.”
Thanks to a $3.2 million state grant, and a large contribution from an anonymous private donor, the trust’s seed bank is about to get a lot of new deposits.