His Majesty King Charles III Continues Patronage of Crop Trust
03 June 2024, UK: The Crop Trust is delighted that, following a review of the patronages of the late Queen and the former Prince of Wales, His Majesty King Charles III has decided to continue to be its Patron. Celebrating the first anniversary of his coronation, the Crop Trust gratefully acknowledges King Charles III’s unwavering dedication to preserving crop diversity, a role he has passionately undertaken since October 2015.
The Crop Trust is an international non-profit organization dedicated to conserving and making crop diversity available for use globally, forever and for the benefit of everyone. Established 20 years ago by a team led by 2024 World Food Prize Laureate Geoffrey Hawtin, OBE, the Crop Trust works tirelessly to ensure that crop diversity is not lost forever, playing a vital role in ensuring the sustainability of agriculture and securing the food security of future generations.
Stefan Schmitz, the current Executive Director of the Crop Trust, expressed profound gratitude for His Majesty’s continued commitment to conserving crop diversity. “His Majesty has been instrumental in raising awareness and driving change toward more sustainable food systems. We are deeply honored by his patronage and the doors this will open for the global partnership of genebanks that safeguard the world’s agricultural heritage,” Schmitz said.
As Prince of Wales, King Charles III supported the Crop Trust through various initiatives, including hosting events at Clarence House to highlight the importance of crop diversity. Demonstrating his personal passion to preserve and protect crucially important plant diversity, he collaborated with Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank to send wildflower seeds from meadows at Highgrove to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. Located on an island beyond the Arctic Circle, the Svalbard Global Seed Vault is owned by Norway and managed in partnership with the Norwegian Ministry of Agriculture and Food, the Nordic Genetic Resource Center (NordGen), and the Crop Trust. It received new deposits a week ago and currently safeguards almost 1.3 million samples of crop and forage seeds.
The United Kingdom has steadfastly supported the Crop Trust since its establishment 20 years ago, contributing over USD $19 million to its endowment fund since 2004. Recently, the UK Government pledged an additional GBP 7 million, reinforcing its commitment to the future of food security.
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