ENSCONET

The European Native Seeds Conservation Network (ENSCONET) is a conservation group for the preservation of wild species by maintaining a germplasm bank. It is made up of 24 institutions from 17 member states of the European Union, as well as five associate members. The network is coordinated by the "Millennium Seed Bank" of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, United Kingdom and is founded under the auspices of the 6th "Research Framework Program" of the EU, and covers 5 of the 6 European biogeographic regions.
History.
Although the project had been in the making for several years, it was not until November 2004 that it was definitively consolidated. The first annual meeting of ENSCONET took place at the Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Chania, in Crete in June 2005. At this time, the drafting of a protocol agreed by all the members for future collections began. The next annual meeting took place in Valencia and was organized by the Botanical Garden of Valencia.
Main activities.
The work carried out by the associated institutions within the network can be summarized in four sections: