Kelera Ditaiki 
[Source: Pacific-Community-SPC/Facebook]
The Pacific Community has opened the region’s first-ever Cryopreservation Laboratory at its Centre for Pacific Crops and Trees.
The $1.26 million project will help preserve more than 2,000 plant varieties and over 100 crop and tree species that have been collected over the past two decades.
SPC Deputy Director General, Dr. Paula Vivili, says the new CryoLab provides a safe way to store crops like coconuts that can’t survive long under normal lab conditions, using freezing technology to protect them for future generations.
A new CryoLab facility will help protect culturally important Pacific crops like taro, yam, banana, breadfruit, cassava, and coconuts, using advanced freezing technology for safe, long-term preservation.
“This new facility strengthens our regional system, conserving and supplying the crops and trees that sustain our countries. Many of you will know that CePaCT exists because Pacific leaders recognize that together we can protect and mobilize the diversity that no single country can sit alone.”
Vivili says the lab safeguards national plant collections from across Pacific Island countries and territories, serving as a vital backup for future food security and biodiversity.
The lab will help protect Fiji’s endemic tree species, many of which hold deep cultural and spiritual significance.
SPC stresses that conservation isn’t just about preserving plants for display, it’s about keeping biodiversity alive and accessible to support food, nutrition, and livelihoods now and for generations to come.
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