A History of RBG Kew's Seed Work
(page 7 )
Profesors Peter Crane (Director of RBG Kew) and Chen Zhu (Chinese Academy of Sciences) sign a 10-year contract in May 2004.
2004 – European Seed Conservation Network (ENSCONET) funded for 5 years by an EU grant of € 2.5m. Involves 19 institutes from 12 countries with RBG Kew as co-ordinator.
2005 – Roger Smith retires as Head of Seed Conservation Department and Leader of MSB Project to take over a fund-raising role in support of the Project. His place is taken by Dr Paul Smith who had previously worked as an International Co-ordinator for the Project.
2006 – Species intake for international phase of Project exceeds 10,000. Formal partnerships with 47 organisations in 17 countries.
Gordon Brown holding the billionth seed collected by the project
2007 - The project's billionth seed is collected and presented to Gordon Brown (then Chancellor of the Exchequer) at 11 Downing Street. It is later banked on International Biodiversity day by Barry Gardiner, the UK Government's Minister for Biodiversity, Landscape and Rural Affairs.
2008 - Species intake for the international phase of the project stands at just over 18,000 by the end of March - 75% of the way towards reaching the target.