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Colombia has some of the most impressive oak forests (e.g. Quercus humboldtii and Colombobalanus excelsa) of South America, trees of high ecological, economic (e.g. timber) and conservation importance. However, they produce recalcitrant seeds, which cannot be stored in conventional seed banks due to their desiccation sensitivity. In addition, Colombia is exceptionally rich in orchids and ferns, which also present limitations in their storage in conventional seed banks. For such species cryopreservation is the most appropriate, and often the only, option for their ex situ conservation; although the methods needed vary with the physiological status of the material. Orchid seeds and fern spores could be routinely stored (dry) in cryo-banks at the temperatures of liquid nitrogen (vapour), preserving in this way large genetic diversity in a small space. For species producing recalcitrant seeds diverse explants can be used to attempt their cryopreservation (e.g. shoot tips, somatic embryos, callus, cell lines“), but the method that captures genetic diversity similar to seed banking is the cryopreservation of isolated embryo axes. Our current approach to cryopreserving embryo axes of recalcitrant seeds will be presented in this paper, based on recent experiences working with recalcitrant seeds from European temperate forests. The need for new advances and innovative solutions for plant germplasm cryopreservation will also be discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]