IN DELIVERING the Sixth Kew Environmental Lecture on 8 February 1996, David McDowell (Director General of the World Conservation Union, IUCN) called for botanists to raise the public profile of plant conservation and play a more prominent role in the conservation and development movement. Historically conservation organisations have concentrated on animals, but the need to integrate conservation and development now puts plants at the heart of successful policies.

In his lecture 'Conservation at the Cutting Edge', Mr McDowell acknowledged the conservation work already being done by botanists, but there was a need to 'get themessage out' as the resources going to the botanical sector were not a true reflection ofthe importance of plants. He saw a requirement for the data held by large botanical collections and herbaria to be disseminated in decentralised databases, and for taxonomies to be 'usable', giving access to the conservation community and policy-makers. He considered living collections to be biodiversity reservoirs which could be used to identify useful or endangered species, spread horticultural and conservation skills, and educate the public on how the plant world supplies many of the answers to achieving global sustainability. Mr McDowell concluded by saying that, in the more environmentally-damaged millennium to come, botanists will need to assert themselves more in order to shape global policy.

Above: David McDowell.

Botanic Gardens Conservation International, the global network of botanic gardens working for biodiversity conservation, was launched by IUCN in 1987 and is based at Kew.

ONE of the first priorities of the Millennium Seed Bank project is to initiate new seed collection of the UK flora. The aim is to have collected and conserved at least one population sample of every seed-bearing native species by the year 2000; collections from further populations will then consolidate the species' genetic representation. This will be the first time that a near-complete species representation of a national flora has been assembled in a seed bank. These samples will not only underwrite the survival of the plant in the wild but provide germplasm for reintroduction, research and major revegetation projects.

Left: Eriophorum gracile, a Schedule 8 species.

The present Kew Seed Bank collection already numbers over 600 native species. Therefore the project will concentrate on the estimated 800 additional species. Being essentially a collaborative exercise, the work will rely heavily on extensive natural history expertise from across the UK. Many organisations (both statutory and voluntary) have offered their support to help with collecting; English Nature has also generously offered financial assistance. During 1996, discussions will take place with these organisations to develop a realistic collecting programme for 1997-9 involving three full-time collectors.

Contact: Simon Linington (0181-332 5075)

Email: Simon Linington

AS A MEMBER of the Biodiversity Steering Group, Kew participated in the production of the report to Government, UK Biodiversity - Meeting the Rio Challenge, which gives targeted action plans for 116 high priority species and 14 key habitats in the UK. Kew is already involved in UK conservation action. Through its partnership with English Nature's Species Recovery Programme, Kew helps to conserve approximately 50% of the highest priority plants. This includes seed storage for species protected by Schedule 8 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act. A leading role is taken in the recovery of our terrestrial orchids and rarest trees, and cryptogam conservation at Wakehurst Place is supporting four targeted species: Fissidens exiguus, Orthodontium gracile (two mosses), Pallavicinia lyellii (liverwort) and gametophytes of Trichomanes speciosum (Killarney fern). The most important key habitat that Kew manages is the ancient broadleaved woodland at Wakehurst Place. Here we are already following all the report's recommendations, including regenerating management for economic industries by the manufacture of BAR-B-KEW charcoal and other products.

IN OCTOBER 1995 research began on the molecular systematics of British species of Tyromyces, a genus of bracket fungi that causes wood decay both in forest trees and domestic timber. Dr Yi-Jian Yao has already obtained 25 ribosomal DNA sequences of ITS and preliminary results show variation that could be used to distinguish species and allow phylogenetic analyses. It is intended that a combination of molecular and morphological data will produce a better taxonomy of the genus and an easy-to-use identification system for ecologists, forest researchers, taxonomists, and the domestic timber industry. The project is being fundedby a grant from The Leverhulme Trust.

Contact: Dr David Pegler (0181-332 5257)

Email: David Pegler