Kew's Millennium Seed Bank partnership - Our projects in the South Atlantic Ocean

Making a difference in the South Atlantic

The islands of the South Atlantic Ocean are home to a diverse range of plant life and  habitats. In common with many of the world's island floras, the plants of the region are under increasing pressure from a wide range of threats.

Our teams of plant scientists and conservationists are working in many such islands, in particular the UK Overseas Territories (UKOTs), to document, collect and conserve plants before species disappear forever.

Helping plant life on Ascension Island

Ascension Island has suffered more than most from human actions.  As a result Ascension Island has lost many of its endemic plant species. These plant species are not found anywhere else on earth. It has also lost most of its nesting seabird colonies.

Efforts to propagate two endemic plant species, Ascension spurge (Euphorbia organioides) and a grass, Sporobolus caespitosus, as well as endemic ferns, are underway by Kew's partners, the Ascension Island Government's Conservation Department.

Collections of these two plant species are stored at Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank, at Wakehurst Place in West Sussex. These seeds can last for decades if not centuries by being stored at a temperature of -20°C. We will have the option in the future to grow these seeds into plants and put them back in areas where they are most needed.

Plant life in the Falkland Islands is under threat

The flora of the Falkland Islands includes more than 160 native species of flowering plant, 14 of these plant species are endemic, so found exclusively on the Falkland Islands.

As well as being home to an interesting flora, the islands support important populations of seabirds such as penguins and albatrosses and other animals such as elephant seals.

In collaboration with  Falklands Conservation and with the help of local volunteers, the seed of 76 Falklands plant species have been collected, dried and frozen at Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank. Plant species in the collection include the strange-looking endemic snake plant (Nassauvia serpens) and the cushion-forming balsam-bog (Bolax gummifera).

Saving seeds for the future in St Helena

Though much older, St Helena is geologically similar to Ascension Island, and has suffered similar losses to its original vegetation.

Of the 420 or so wild plant species, only 15% are native to the island. However, a remarkable 45 plant species are found exclusively in St Helena. Most of these are severely threatened, having been reduced to very small populations. Several species are thought to have become extinct.

Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank based at Wakehurst Place holds 27 threatened plant species found in St Helena, many of these collected with the help of the St Helena Government's Agriculture and Natural Resources Department and the St Helena National Trust. These include the false gumwood (Commidendrum spurium), with fewer than ten trees surviving in the wild, and old father live forever (Pelargonium cotyledonis), a bizarre plant clinging to bare rocks with its tortuous succulent rootstock.

Help Kew save plant life for our future - save a plant species outright or adopt a seed for just £25 

Discover more about our work across the Caribbean and Atlantic Ocean...

• Ascension Island
• Falkland Islands
• Montserrat
• St Helena
• Turks & Caicos Islands
• Other UKOTs

Interactive map - Kew's MSBP around the world

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