Save Russian Seedbank and Irreplaceable Information
The Russian Ministry of Economic Development is on the verge of destroying Europe's largest field genebank and replacing it with commercial cottages. The Pavlovsk experimental station outside St Petersburg holds more than 4,000 varieties of fruits and berries, and according the Pavlovsk station's director, "more than 90% of the collection is found in no other
research station."
The collection survived the German siege of Leningrad during WWII, and one of Vavilov's assistants reportedly starved to death protecting all these edible seeds. If you're wondering why seeds are worth dying for, remember that this seed bank is preserving rare genetic traits that could one day help farmers save entire nations from famine. With global warming growing worse by the day, it's only going to become more critical that we have a wide variety of plants we can try cultivating in a new climate.
Urge the President of Russia to save the seedbank and the important genetic information it is storing.
Dear President Medvedev,
I'm writing to ask you to save the Pavlovsk experimental station outside St Petersburg. This seedbank stores genetic information for more than 4,000 varieties of fruits and berries, and more than 90% of the collection is found in no other research station. Humanity cannot afford to lose this valuable information or even risk its damage.
[Your comment will be inserted here.]
Historically, humans used more than 7,000 plant species to meet their basic food needs, but today only about 150 plant species are commercially grown. With global warming growing worse by the day, it's only going to become more critical that we have a wide variety of plants to try cultivating in a new climate. Please recognize the value of this seedbank by insisting that the Russian Ministry of Economic Development abandon plans to build commercial housing in its place.
