BRITS POS – BRITS – South Africa’s first medicinal, indigenous and herbal seed bank containing more than 20 000 seeds was opened by Sandy Roberts, daughter of the late Margaret Roberts at the Margaret Roberts Herbal Centre in De Wildt last Saturday 17 May, commemorating its 20 years of closure.
The idea of the seed bank germinated in 2001 when Margaret and Sandy visited the Seychelles botanical gardens and saw a seed bank in which all the Seychelles indigenous seeds were safely sealed away for 50 years.
Realizing what this would do for future generations Margaret and Sandy started building their own seed bank and filling it with herbs, medicinal and indigenous plant seeds both from the Herbal Centre and Ball Straat Hoff/Kirchhoff’s.
The seed bank was completed on 14 May 2005, filled with letters from friends, current news, magazines, Margaret’s own books and essential oils to preserve the seeds. The seedbank was sealed for 20 years by Margaret, Sandy and Leonie Coulsen.
Now, 20 years have passed and Sandy and Skye Roberts, Paul Vonk of MayFord seeds together with Leonie Coulsen have opened the seed bank to remove the many sealed and packed containers showing the results of the well-preserved seeds.
“Twenty years may not seem like a long time, but the impact of global warming, climate changes, hybridization and genetic engineering may take its toll on the country’s seed heritage,” said Sandy, who was the master mind behind the seed bank. “Without seeds there is no plants and with no plants there is no food.”
These seeds will now be tested and grown at the Herbal Centre. The seeds will then be shared. Following the opening, a combination of new MayFord seeds and Margaret Roberts seeds have been packed away into the vault for five years to come. Paul Vonk said that there are many old varieties of seeds that are no longer available, one should save seeds and grow them for self-sustainability. MayFord and Margaret Roberts seeds are unmodified. Sandy spoke about the importance of protecting seeds for future generations.
