MARSB
MARSB is funded in part through a generous grant from the USFWS/Department of the Interior.
MARSB’s mission is to conserve and wisely manage the Mid-Atlantic Region’s wild seed resources, through scientific sampling, ethical collection, banking, and curation and to encourage and actively contribute to the development of the Native Plant Material supply chain throughout the region.
The Mid-Atlantic Regional Seed Bank (MARSB) aims to increase the availability of genetically appropriate native seed across the Mid-Atlantic through targeted seed collection and active seed banking. We are building a network of diverse partners to collaboratively meet the seed needs for region-wide, landscape-scale restorations.
MARSB was established by Edward Toth as part of the Greenbelt Native Plant Center program within the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. In 2022, MARSB incorporated as a not-for-profit within the state of New York. MARSB has worked closely with Seeds of Success (SOS), a national effort that seeks to collect and bank the entire US flora. To date, SOS has made over 20,000 native seed collections across the country. As a partner in the SOS program, MARSB’s seed collections will not only help meet the seed needs of the mid-Atlantic region, but be stored long-term for conservation purposes.
The Mid-Atlantic Regional Seed Bank takes an ecosystems approach to conservation that results in seed collections across every ecoregion in the Mid-Atlantic. Because wild, genetically appropriate native seed is the raw material needed for ecological restoration projects, we believe this critical resource should be properly safeguarded and managed using sound scientific principles.
Please Consider Supporting our Work
The work of developing a robust mid-Atlantic region-wide native plant supply chain will take significant investment of time, talent, and money. Please consider how you can support this critically important ecological work.
