ACTIONS
- Protect and safeguard cultural and natural heritage
- Learning and educational opportunities
- Cultural participation/social inclusion
- Sustainable tourism
- Support research
- Employment (recruiting, training, safety)
- Energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions
- Waste management and reduction
- Transport (forms of, energy use)
- Commercial activities including copyright and IP
- Governance and management
- Security, disaster preparedness, risk reduction
- External partnerships and collaborations
SDGs
- Publication/report
- Case studies
Community Seed Banks
Intended Audience
People working with community seed banks in various ways
- Vernooy, R., Shrestha, P. and B. Sthapit. Community Seed Banks. Routledge (Earthscan), Abingdon.
2015
“Community level seed-saving initiatives have been around for about 30 years. They have been designed and implemented to conserve, restore, revitalize, strengthen and improve local seed systems, especially, but not solely, focused on local varieties… This book aims to fill a gap in the scientific literature about community seed banks. Despite 30 years of existence and growth, no book has been published that reviews their history, evolution, experiences, successes, challenges and prospects. We believe this book is unique in bringing together a rich compilation of 35 diverse case studies from around the world and an in-depth comparative analysis of the key aspects of the operations and viability of community seed banks.” (p.2)
Avaiable in
- English
SDGs LINKAGES
The resource is linked to SDGs 2.3 (sustainable agriculture and productivity), 2.4 and 2.5 (addressing hunger and preservation of food resources), 9.1 and 9.5 (addressing sustainable infrastructure and scientific research), and 13.B (building resilience in least developed countries and developing island states). This in turn supports a number of SDGs relating to food and food security, vulnerability and resilience, including 1.5, 2.1, 2.2 and 11.5. Adapting to climate change supports SDG 13.1 and 13.3.
Protecting genetic diversity and biodiversity contributes to SDGs 11.4 and 15.5.
Ensuring benefits arising from genetic resources are shared equitably with source communities contributes to SDGs 2.5 and 15.6.
Click on the SDG Target to discover Our Collections Matter indicators
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Our Collections Matter indicators:
- Number of collecting programmes that aim to build resilience to climate-related events and other shocks and disasters, for example by forming collections that can contribute to related educational and research programmes.
- Number of educational programmes drawing on collections that incorporate resilience perspectives.
- Number of targeted programmes drawing on collections that are aimed at vulnerable groups, to build their resilience to climate-related and other shocks and disasters.
- Number of research programmes drawing on collections that are aimed at building resilience to climate-related and other shocks and disasters.
- Strengthen the resilience of employees, communities and suppliers by paying at a minimum the living wage and offering insurance to employees and their families, such as accident insurance; and by paying fair prices to all suppliers.
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Our Collections Matter indicators:
- Number of educational programmes incorporating food security, nutrition and seasonal diet perspectives.
- Collections development related to food security, nutrition and seasonal diets, as appropriate.
- Number of targeted educational, awareness-raising and partnership programmes relating to food and nutrition, drawing on collections, aimed at vulnerable and marginalized groups.
- Number of research activities drawing on collections that relate to resilient agricultural practices, helping mitigate and adapt to climate change, flooding and other disasters.
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Our Collections Matter indicators:
- Number of educational programmes incorporating health and food perspectives.
- Collections development related to malnutrition and nutrition, where appropriate.
- Number of targeted educational, awareness-raising and partnership programmes relating to food and nutrition, drawing on collections, aimed at vulnerable and marginalized groups.
- Number of research activities drawing on collections that relate to nutrition and addressing malnutrition.
- Number of partnership programmes that directly support ending of malnutrition through provisioning of food and other dietary needs.
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Our Collections Matter indicators:
- Collections development that can support programmes related to small-scale food producers, for example by ensuring that traditional knowledge is preserved and maintained.
- Number of educational, awareness-raising, research and partnership programmes based on collections that support small-scale food producers, both in terms of supporting the producers themselves, and that support others to support them.
- Policies and plans in place to ensure that tourism activities support (and do not infringe upon) people’s rights of access to land for agricultural purposes.
- Provide markets for small-scale food producers’ products.
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Our Collections Matter indicators:
- Collections development related to sustainable food production where appropriate.
- Number of educational and awareness-raising programmes incorporating sustainable food production perspectives, and that aim to reduce the impact of disasters on communities.
- Number of targeted programmes that support those most exposed and vulnerable to disasters, whether locally or farther afield.
- Number of research activities drawing on collections that relate to resilient agricultural practices, helping mitigate and adapt to climate change, flooding and other disasters.
- Policies and plans in place to eliminate unsustainable food production from supply chains and in any food provision in collections-based institutions.
- Number of partnership activities drawing on collections that contribute to Disaster Risk Reduction plans, supporting resilient agricultural practices, and helping mitigate and adapt to climate change, flooding and other disasters.
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Our Collections Matter indicators:
- Collections development related to genetic diversity of seeds, cultivated plants, farmed and domesticated animals (notably of local or at-risk varieties) and related wild species, for example in herbaria, museums, seed and gene banks, and seed libraries.
- Number of educational programmes related to genetic diversity of domesticated plants, animals and wild relatives.
- Number of educational programmes related to fair and equitable benefits of use of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge, following international agreements (e.g. Nagoya Protocol).
- Number of educational and awareness programmes for people to ensure that they are aware of their rights and protections in terms of traditional knowledge, and exploitation of genetic resources.
- Number of research activities that help understand traditional knowledge, and genetic diversity of crop plants and animals.
- Ensure that producers of crop plants and animals are fairly compensated.
- Policies and procedures in place to ensure seed banks are soundly managed, in terms of risk management and emergency planning.
- Policies and procedures in place to ensure legal compliance with fair and equitable benefits of use of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge, following international agreements (e.g. Nagoya Protocol).
- Number of partnerships at national, regional and international levels, as appropriate, to soundly manage seed and plant banks.
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Our Collections Matter indicators:
- Development of research-useful collections to support reliable, sustainable and resilient use by researchers and others.
- Number and proportion of collections facilities and stores that support economic development and human well-being.
- Number and proportion of collections facilities and stores that provide affordable and equitable access for all.
- Investment in collections facilities.
- Inclusion of collections information in regional and transborder initiatives, notably via digital access for discoverability.
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Our Collections Matter indicators:
- Number and proportion of collections facilities that effectively support research and researchers.
- Number and proportion of staff who are appropriately skilled to undertake and support collections-based research.
- Expenditure on initiatives to enhance and upgrade collections facilities.
- Numbers of staff engaged in supporting and developing research use based on collections.
- Number of initiatives to encourage innovation drawing on collections.
- Increase in number of research and development workers per 1 million people.
- Increase in public and private research and development spending being used to develop and make use of collections.
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Our Collections Matter indicators:
- Total expenditure (public and private) per capita spent on the preservation, protection and conservation of all cultural and natural heritage, by type of heritage.
- Plans, policies and procedures in place for the safe use of collections for a variety of purposes, protecting and safeguarding both collections and those who use them.
- Plans, policies and procedures in place for the identification, safeguarding and protection of cultural and natural heritage at risk.
- Collecting programmes in place to protect, safeguard and make use of cultural and natural heritage, addressing the needs of communities and stakeholders, and ensuring that collections can be an effective resource for sustainable development.
- Number and diversity of educational, awareness-raising, research programmes, and partnerships that aim to strengthen protection of cultural and natural heritage.
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Our Collections Matter indicators:
- Collections-based research that supports the understanding and management of disasters of all kinds.
- Plans in place for public education and awareness drawing on collections and collections-based institutions to reduce exposure and vulnerability to disasters of all kinds.
- Plans in place to ensure collections-based institutions steadily work to reduce their contributions to disaster risk, for example by reducing pollution and waste of all kinds.
- Plans in place to ensure collections-based institutions, and people related to them (including workers) are protected from economic losses as a result of disasters.
- Plans in place to provide special support/protection to poor and vulnerable people and groups in and following disasters.
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Our Collections Matter indicators:
- Plans in place for near and longer term to withstand and actively adapt to climate-related hazards and natural disasters.
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Our Collections Matter indicators:
- Plans in place to enhance positive contributions to addressing climate change through use of collections. Plans in place to ensure collections, collections institutions and broader society can adapt effectively to climate change.
- Plans in place for effective education and awareness raising on climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction and early warning.
- Plans in place to reduce negative contributions of collections-related functions, e.g. measuring greenhouse emissions with plans and targets in place to reduce them.
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Our Collections Matter indicators:
- Number of initiatives (educational, awareness-raising, research, and/or partnerships) drawing on collections and collections-based institutions that build capacity for climate change planning and management in least developed countries and small island developing States.
- Number of targeted initiatives drawing on collections and collections-based institutions aimed at building capacity for women, youth and local and marginalized communities in least developed countries and small island developing States.
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Our Collections Matter indicators:
- Number and proportion of habitats, notably endangered habitats, and species with favourable conservation status, with special reference to locally, nationally and globally endangered species.
- Information on, programmes relating to, collections development, and partnerships relating to habitats and species drawing on collections in place, to support their protection and continued existence.
- Measures taken to enhance biodiversity value of green space associated with collections institutions.
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Our Collections Matter indicators:
- Policies, plans and agreements in place for access and benefit sharing relating to use of collections, in line with the Nagoya Protocol (notably relating to natural history collections, gene banks, tissue banks, seed banks).
- Effective communication and dissemination methods in place to promote access to resources, and access to relevant policies, plans and agreements, in place.