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
Plant story - Eremophila sp. is one of 550 species being collected in Australia
01 Dec 2009
Eremophila "A48866 Rainbow Valley" is one of a number of species being collected in Australia as part of the Northern Territory project.
0 likes0 comments
Professor César Gómez-Campo - a founder figure in wild species seed banking
19 Nov 2009
The Millennium Seed Bank conserves seeds of wild species. It might not have existed but for early pioneering work in Spain and at Kew.
7 likes0 comments
The next big challenge for Kew's Millennium Seed Bank partnership
26 Oct 2009
Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank partnership will continue to focus on those parts of the world which are home to some of the world’s poorest people, and where plant diversity is tightly bound to people’s livelihoods.
25 likes1 comment
Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank Partnership ‘top banana’ as it celebrates banking 10% of the world’s wild plant species.
15 Oct 2009
Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank Partnership is celebrating collecting, banking and conserving 10% of the world’s wild plant species by banking its 24,200th plant species.
41 likes3 comments
UK Overseas Territories - a collaboration between Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank partnership, Kew's UKOTs science team and local conservation partners
There are over 270,000 plant species on this planet. One quarter of those plants now face the threat of extinction. Our mission is to protect the seeds of as many of those plants as possible. From sub-Antarctic heath to various kinds of tropical forest, the United Kingdom Overseas Territories (UKOTs) are home to a diverse range of habitats facing various challenges. Our teams of scientists are working in some of the most remote places on earth to document and collect plants before species disappear forever.
Kew's Millennium Seed Bank project – St Helena
Seeds collected from threatened plant species on St Helena are stored at Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank. They make a valuable contribution to our goal of securing the safe storage of 25% of the world’s plants by 2020. The main priority is those species and regions most at risk from climate change and the ever-increasing impact of human activities.
Protea plants help unlock secrets of species 'hotspots'
28 Sep 2009
Some parts of the planet with a Mediterranean-style climate have become species-rich biodiversity hotspots, a recent study reveals.
1 comment
Kew's Maputo workshop represents progress for protection of Mozambique's mountains and coastal forests
28 Sep 2009
Kew has been invited to play a key role in shaping conservation policy in Mozambique.
0 likes0 comments
Kew's work in the Caribbean island of Montserrat is rescuing special plants, including the native orchid
28 Sep 2009
Kew's conservation programme is helping to save local plants devastated by volcanic eruptions.
2 likes0 comments
Kew works with partners in Lebanon to store seeds of native wild species
27 Sep 2009
Kew's Millennium Seed Bank partnership with the Lebanese Agricultural Research Institute is saving native wild species
3 likes1 comment
