MOUs signed with Kew Gardens, Meise Botanic Garden to boost plant research cooperation
The Korea Arboretum and Garden Management Institute is stepping up international cooperation with leading global plant research institutions to secure future food resources and preserve biodiversity.
The institute, which operates under the Korea Forest Service, announced Monday that it had signed MOUs with Meise Botanic Garden in Belgium on June 19 and with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, in the United Kingdom on July 2.
Kew Gardens operates the Millennium Seed Bank, the world's largest wild plant seed storage facility. Meise Botanic Garden is a leading European plant research institution equipped with a range of research facilities dedicated to the conservation of wild and endangered plant species.
Under the agreements, the institute will collaborate on joint research into crop wild relatives (CWR) found in forests, as well as the exchange of seeds, plant specimens, tissue samples and data for conservation target species; the sharing of seed bank operations and seed conservation technology; researcher exchanges and joint seminars; and the joint pursuit of international research projects and funding.
The institute also plans to expand seed data cooperation through the Germination Experiment Assistant (GEA) platform for managing germination experiment data and the SeedPOD seed information sharing platform.
In addition, the institute will carry out joint research with Kew Gardens and the Royal College of Art in the United Kingdom on Korean Indigo, a traditional Korean dye plant, and will pursue an international cooperation project combining biodiversity conservation with culture and the arts.
Shim Sang-taek, president of the Korea Arboretum and Garden Management Institute, said international cooperation is essential to addressing climate change and the decline of biodiversity. "We will expand joint research and personnel exchanges with world-class plant research institutions to produce tangible results in securing future food resources and conserving forest biological resources," Shim said.
Meanwhile, the institute laid the groundwork for these partnerships last year by jointly conducting a Horizon Europe research project on crop wild relatives with Kew Gardens and Meise Botanic Garden.
kwonhl@heraldcorp.com
