Seed collections ‘vital to save plant species from extinction’

Global Plant Council president predicts further destruction until causes of global warming are addressed

Australia’s bushfire crisis has highlighted the important role of national seedbanks in conserving plant species for research, a leading crop scientist has said.

Roslyn Gleadow, president of the Global Plant Council and a research fellow at Monash University in Melbourne, has described the fires as “just the beginning of catastrophic climate change”.