South Korea is trying to turn a domestic conservation effort into a global safety net as climate change puts growing strain on crops, forests, and food systems.
The push centers on protecting crop wild relatives, whose seeds could help communities adapt to tougher growing conditions and restore ecosystems after disasters.
Here's what to know
Created in 2017 under the Korea Forest Service, the Korea Arboreta and Gardens Institute manages the Baekdudaegan Global Seed Vault along with several national conservation facilities. Its president, Shim Sang-taek, says South Korea now wants to play a bigger international role in protecting plant genetic resources, according to the Korea Herald.
Crop wild relatives are the uncultivated cousins of food crops. These plants can contain desirable traits such as drought tolerance, salt tolerance, disease resistance, and resilience to extreme temperatures, which may become more important as shifting weather and new pests make farming harder for the current crop species we rely on.
Since South Korea's first national inventory of crop wild relatives in 2022, KoAGI has now identified 206 species, including wild relatives of blueberries and onions, per the Korea Herald.
Working alongside eight universities, the institute is collecting about 300 genetic samples a year from roughly 30 species and has compiled more than 7,100 data points linked to useful traits.
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"The climate crisis and biodiversity loss are global challenges that no single country can solve alone," Sang-taek explained to the Herald, adding, "International cooperation and joint action grounded in scientific evidence are more important than ever."
Beyond its work inside South Korea, KoAGI uses the Baekdudaegan Global Seed Vault in Bonghwa as a permanent storage site for wild plant seeds. Designed to protect collections from natural disasters, habitat destruction, and extinction, the facility now holds around 290,000 seed accessions, including about 131,000 from outside Korea, per the Herald.
More background
If hotter and less predictable weather weakens staple crops, breeders could draw on the traits found in wild relatives to develop tougher food plants and help support food security. Preserving biodiversity can also protect livelihoods and local food traditions while keeping open future medical or commercial uses for native plants.
KoAGI is trying to become central to the international effort to protect these species, collect seed backups, and learn as much about them as possible before the climate warms and destroys previously viable crops.
Where can I learn more?
Protecting plant genetic diversity is one piece of a much bigger climate resilience puzzle for food systems. These articles look at how Indigenous seed stewardship, new crop breeding, and traditional farming can reinforce the kinds of safety nets South Korea is trying to build.
• In Peru, Indigenous communities are protecting the food supply from future shocks by preserving heirloom potato seeds.
• Corteva says its new hybrid wheat could offer revolutionary benefits for farmers facing harsher growing conditions.
• On the White Earth reservation in Minnesota, Winona LaDuke is helping revive traditional, resilient farming to strengthen local food systems.
Safeguarding future harvests will take both biodiversity conservation and changes to how food systems operate.
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