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

Kew's Millennium Seed Bank partnership – Montserrat

Kew's Millennium Seed Bank collection contains 26 seeds from precious and vulnerable plant species found in Montserrat. We now have the option to grow these seeds into plants and reintroduce them in the wild.

Kew's Millennium Seed Bank partnership – Falkland Islands

Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank partnership is participating in vital conservation work in the Falkland Islands. Plants are under threat from invasive species and land-use. By collecting and storing seeds we can safeguard endangered plant species for future generations.

Kew's Millennium Seed Bank partnership – Ascension Island

By collecting seeds from plants on Ascension Island and preserving them at Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank, we are providing an insurance against their loss in the wild. Seeds can be grown into plants and re-introduced in their native habitats.

Kew's Millennium Seed Bank partnership – Tasmania

Building on a long association with Kew stretching back to the 19th century, Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank partnership is working to establish the Tasmanian Conservation Centre. The seeds collected and stored will help safeguard Tasmania’s threatened flora.

Sturt's desert pea (Swainsona formosa) on sand dunes

Kew's Millennium Seed Bank partnership – South Australia

The SACRED Seeds project is a collaboration between the Botanic Gardens of Adelaide Seed Conservation Centre and Kew's Millennium Seed Bank partnership. Over half of South Australia's rare and endangered flora is now secure in duplicated collections in long term seed storage facilities in Adelaide and at Kew's Millennium Seed Bank. These collections are helping plant species to recover in their natural habitats.

Kew's Millennium Seed Bank partnership – The Northern Territory of Australia

Seed banks provide an insurance policy against the extinction of plants in the wild and options for their future use. This is good news for our conservation efforts in the Northern Territory of Australia, one of the seven Australian States and Territories in which we work.

New South Wales landscape with mountains and rock faces

Kew's Millennium Seed Bank partnership – SeedQuest in New South Wales

Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank partnership, through the SeedQuest New South Wales programme, is providing insurance against the loss of rare plant species in the New South Wales region.

Kew's Millennium Seed Bank partnership – Western Australia

Western Australia's diverse and spectacular flora makes it one of the premier floristic regions on the planet. Unfortunately, this species richness is matched by a host of threatening processes that have put a very high number of these species under threat of extinction. Kew's Millennium Seed Bank partnership in Western Australia has developed a major resource to address threats and support the re-establishment of species and plant ecosystems throughout the State.

Kew's Millennium Seed Bank partnership - Georgia

In a country like Georgia with its rich, unique and diverse flora, seed collection and storage will help in our quest to save plant diversity. Increasing threats to plants come from changes in land use, climate and a burgeoning human population.