With a collection of some 6000 specimens and 3500 botanical species — 1300 of which kept in large greenhouses simulating tropical, sub-humid, temperate and arid zones — the Botanical Garden of Padua showcases the natural riches of the planet we inhabit: a veritable treasure trove of extraordinary plant variety. Ever since the garden came into being in 1545, research projects and targeted strategies have been adopted to preserve this Wunderkammer of biodiversity, which down the years have led to significant landmarks in terms of awareness and knowledge, and ultimately to practical actions on conservation.

Based on a tradition that has linked botanical gardens around the world for centuries, the index seminum is a catalogue of seeds and spores, prepared every two years by universities, research bodies and gardens, which can be requested by and exchanged between public institutions, as envisaged by the Convention on Biodiversity (Rio de Janeiro, 1992), for the purposes of study, reproduction, conservation and education — never for commercial gain. The index seminum is a detailed list that embodies the virtuous practice of sharing knowledge and valued botanical traces, passed down over time from garden to garden.

Currently the focus of much soul-searching and heated debate, climate change is among the major causes of biodiversity loss on the planet. Accordingly, in the field of ecology, research on the diversity of functional traits displayed by different plant specimens is fundamental in determining those characteristics that favour the survival of some species over others in the environmental context of Mediterranean Europe. Considerable attention is given to these matters at the Botanical Garden of Padua, where researchers study the functional biodiversity of species growing in the actual garden, and the characteristics of endemic herbaceous chasmophytes — this, with the end in view of assessing the state of health and the acclimatisation of plants found typically on cliffs and rock faces in and around Italy. 

Among the new biodiversity conservation techniques applied by national and international institutions is the biobank, which collects material from the natural environment in order to characterise and preserve it in the long term and is accessible to the scientific community as an aid to conservation initiatives. An example of this is the germplasm bank, with which various research projects are connected: Dryland biobanking — the study of how microalgae that live in desert areas adapt and play the essential role of primary producers in ecosystems, and in the global fixation of carbon dioxide; Plantbank — aimed at protecting and restoring endemic Alpine species that are either threatened or in decline, conducted in collaboration with 14 botanical gardens distributed across the European Alps; and SEEDFORCE — funded by the European Commission’s LIFE programme, which was launched with the goal of improving the conservation status of 29 rare and endangered plant species found in 76 biodiversity hotspots (SCI/SAC areas of the Natura 2000 Network), in Italy and neighbouring regions, applying an integrated ex situ/in situ approach. In particular, the Botanical Garden of Padua is involved in schemes for the conservation of three species: Kosteletzkya pentacarpos in coastal areas of the Veneto and Emilia-Romagna regions, Adenophora liliifolia on the Belluno Dolomites, and Marsilea quadrifolia in the Mesola forest.