Welcome to the first edition of Ombuto, the newsletter that will keep you updated on news and activities of the MSBP in Namibia. Why Ombuto? Ombuto means "seed" in the Oshiwambo language, one of the many languages spoken in Namibia. It is planned to publish this newsletter twice a year in electronic format. In this first issue, some background on the project will be given as well as a summary of activities to date while future editions will concentrate more on news and recent happenings. It is hoped, that this newsletter will develop into more than simply a report-back by project staff and that there will be interaction and contributions from others linked to seed conservation in Namibia and maybe even from fellow MSBP partners in other parts of the world.