The Mojave Desert Land Trust has announced a major expansion to the Mojave Desert Seed Bank – allowing them to collect and store seeds representing approximately 20% of all the mojave desert’s native flora.
The $3.19 million expansion of the seed bank is in support of California’s 30×30 initiative – an effort to help conservationists tackle the urgent need for collecting and storing native seeds in our state. The California Wildlife Conservation Board grant was approved on May 25.
The seed bank is managed by the Mojave Desert Land Trust – or MDLT – from their Joshua Tree HQ, and the expansion is planned over the next four years. The MDLT says that the new funding from the Wildlife Conservation board will enable the seed bank to collect, process and store seeds from an additional 300 species – and the collection of seeds will be used in restoration projects throughout the state’s deserts- which represent almost 25% of California’s ecosystems.
In 2020 the seed bank joined California Plant Rescue, a collaboration of not-for-profit botanical institutions working to conserve California’s unique native flora. That same year MDLT also entered a collaboration with the Bureau of Land Management to develop and document the processes used in growing and collecting native Mojave Desert seeds.
The expansion will also see the new construction of a 2,500 square foot facility to help in that mission – it will include a seed lab, climate controlled storage, a processing room and workspace for staff and volunteers – all made possible by an anonymous donor.
The Seed Bank has made over 700 collections representing over 210 species since its establishment six years ago. The seed collection prioritizes species that are valuable in restoration work and that support threatened and endangered wildlife such as the Mojave desert tortoise.
Madena Asbell is The Director of Plant Conservation Programs at the Mojave Desert Land Trust, and she says that this project will allow the MDLT – along with their partners – to better address the region’s seed needs and the growing threats caused by climate change and habitat loss.
