Ex situ conservation is the process of protecting an endangered species, variety or breed, of plant or animal outside its natural habitat. For example, by removing part of the population from a threatened habitat and placing it in a new location, an artificial environment which is similar to the natural habitat of the respective animal and within the care of humans, such as a zoological park or wildlife sanctuary. The degree to which humans control or modify the natural dynamics of the managed population varies widely, and this may include alteration of living environments, reproductive patterns, access to resources, and protection from predation and mortality.
Svalbard Global Seed Bank, an ex situ conservation.
A tank of liquid nitrogen, used to supply a cryogenic freezer (for storing laboratory samples at a temperature of about −150 °C)
A crop wild relative (CWR) is a wild plant closely related to a domesticated plant. It may be a wild ancestor of the domesticated (cultivated) plant or another closely related taxon.
Two conservationists collecting indigenous knowledge on cultural practices that favour CWR populations, from a farmer near Fes, Morocco.
Example of one of the first genetic reserves established to conserve CWRs near Kalakh al Hosn, Syria
Cajanus scarabaeoides is one of the closest wild relatives to the cultivated pigeonpea and has high drought tolerance and high protein content. Being screened at the campus of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics in Patancheru, India.
Geographic hotspots of distributions of crop wild relatives not represented in genebanks
