Conservation and climate change news
Plants have an essential role to play in mitigating the effects of climate change, because they take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. Conversely, if forests are destroyed by burning, then carbon dioxide is added to the atmosphere. Deforestation accounts for about one fifth of the world’s carbon emissions.
However, plants are threatened by environmental changes including climate change. Conserving plants is therefore critical to any sustainable solution to environmental change.
Kew's work in this area | Adopt a seed for £25 and help Kew protect plant life
Study finds sixty percent of UK species in decline
22 May 2013
Kew has contributed to a groundbreaking report on the state of wildlife in the UK in time for International Day of Biological Diversity. It reveals that 60% of species studied have declined over recent decades.
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New initiative from Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank to protect UK trees takes root
10 May 2013
With a host of new pests and diseases attacking the United Kingdom’s native treescape, Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank is tackling the threat by establishing the country’s first national collection of tree seeds – the UK National Tree Seed Project.
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Red Listing the unique plants of the UK Overseas Territories (UKOTs)
by: Sara Barrios, UK Overseas Territories team blog26 Apr 2013
Many of the unique plant species growing in the UK Overseas Territories (UKOTs) are under threat. Kew’s Herbarium specimens provide important clues to help us identify those that are in greatest danger.
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Exclusive interview - Jared Diamond on the natural world
08 Mar 2013
Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jared Diamond was recently awarded the Kew International Medal for his contribution to science and conservation. During his visit to the Gardens Jared spoke to Kew about the importance of plants and what we can learn from traditional societies in building a sustainable future.
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Restoring habitats in the Falkland Islands, one seed at a time
by: Alicky Davey and Tom Heller, UK Overseas Territories team blog22 Feb 2013
Alicky Davey from Falklands Conservation and Tom Heller from Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank explain how collecting wild plant seed can help restore eroded habitats and pastures in the Falkland Islands.
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Food for when all else fails - collect from the wild or cultivate?
by: Tim Harris, Herbarium blog11 Feb 2013
A successful yam cultivation project in Madagascar cannot keep up with demand for cultivated yams.
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First flowering at Kew for Critically Endangered Montserrat orchid
by: Marcella Corcoran, UK Overseas Territories team blog30 Jan 2013
Dust-like seeds of the orchid Epidendrum montserratense, collected on the Caribbean island of Montserrat, have been germinated and cultivated in carefully controlled conditions at Kew, to produce the first flowers of this species to be seen in the UK.
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Observations on a strange vegetable - the snake gourd
by: Wolfgang Stuppy, Millennium Seed Bank blog25 Jan 2013
He may be a Seed Morphologist but Wolfgang Stuppy of Kew's Millennium Seed Bank discovers there is more to the snake gourd than just some strange fruit and eccentric seeds.
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The 'Christmassy' killer raspberry
by: Wolfgang Stuppy, Millennium Seed Bank blog11 Dec 2012
The Millennium Seed Bank's seed morphologist, Wolfgang Stuppy, is back with his final blog of the year. To wish you all a very 'Merry Christmas', he is sharing some festive images of a flesh-eating killer raspberry! Do you dare read on ...
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The taste of the Amazon
by: Wolfgang Stuppy, Millennium Seed Bank blog09 Nov 2012
This month Kew's Seed Morphologist, Wolfgang Stuppy, brings us a post about his recent adventures in the Amazon. Now safely back in the Millennium Seed Bank, he can share with us news of Cupuaçu; the taste of the Amazon!
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