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
Is our daily cup of coffee under threat?
08 Nov 2012
A new study from Kew suggests that Arabica coffee could be extinct in the wild within 70 years.
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Chalara dieback of ash - RBG Kew's response
05 Nov 2012
Chalara dieback of ash, a fungal disease which threatens the species, is currently receiving much press attention in the UK. Tony Kirkham, Head of Kew's Arboretum, provides a synopsis of the disease and how Kew is responding.
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Madagascar’s palms near extinction
17 Oct 2012
Eighty three percent of Madagascar’s palms are threatened with extinction, putting the livelihoods of local people at risk – according to the latest update of The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species released today by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). These findings draw on research undertaken by experts at Kew.
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UN Meeting on Biodiversity says action in support of biodiversity is urgently needed
10 Oct 2012
As the UN Meeting on Biodiversity opens in Hyderabad, India, Kew joins representatives from over 170 countries to discuss a plan of action for protecting the planet’s biodiversity.
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Saving seeds - in four million years we'll laugh about it!
by: Wolfgang Stuppy, Millennium Seed Bank blog20 Sep 2012
Here comes a slightly different 'Seed of the Month' blog by the Millennium Seed Bank's Seed Morphologist, Wolfgang Stuppy, in which he explains why saving seeds is more than just a good idea!
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60 year project documenting plants of East Africa celebrated at Kew Gardens
13 Sep 2012
A significant milestone in East African conservation and botany will be celebrated at Kew today, to mark the completion of The Flora of Tropical East Africa (FTEA). This vast 60 year project involved documenting and furthering knowledge of the region’s 12,104 wild plant species, including many plants new to science.
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Harapan memories and take-away thoughts
by: Jenny Williams & Marie Briggs, GIS team blog20 Aug 2012
Kew staff reminisce on time well spent in the Harapan Rainforest, Sumatra, with a summary of their GIS field mapping, personal accounts and photographs.
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Launching the UKOTs Online Herbarium
by: Sara Barrios, UK Overseas Territories team blog22 May 2012
We are bringing the unique and amazing plants that grow in the UKOTs, including those from the Caribbean, a little closer to you in celebration of International Day of Biological Diversity. Just a shame we can't bring the Caribbean weather too!
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Pine pests on the Turks and Caicos Islands
15 May 2012
Scientists are studying the insects causing the decline of the Caribbean pine on Turks and Caicos and searching for chemical markers for unhealthy trees.
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Analyses of Marianne North paintings
04 May 2012
Chemical analyses of Kew’s Marianne North oil paintings have helped in their conservation.
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