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Seed Bank

The Seed Bank of MAICh was founded in 2000 and holds collections of endemic, rare and threatened native plants as well as other native plants of Crete (medicinal, aromatic, etc.) and landraces of cultivated plants.

The Seed Bank has the appropriate infrastructure for all the essential steps for the preservation of the germplasm, such as seed collection, seed cleaning, drying (drying room with relative humidity 15-20% and temperature 15 °C), automated counting and packaging and long-term storage (cold room at -18 °C).

In addition, there is a fully equipped laboratory for germination experiments (germination chambers with controlled temperature and light conditions, dark room with safety light, etc.).

Botanical Garden

The Botanical Garden, founded in 2001, holds a collection of endemic and threatened plants of Crete for demonstration and education purposes.

It is closely linked with the Seed Bank and covers an area of approximately 0.5 ha.

An information Centre for the Cretan natural environment is also located in the area of the Botanical Garden.

 

 

Herbarium

The Herbarium significantly contributes to the work of the Mediterranean Plant Conservation Unit (MPCU) and has been operating since 1991. Specimens of plants of the Cretan flora are preserved and all the required facilities for taxonomic identification of plants of the East Mediterranean region are available.