Press Release

Kew's Mini Seed Bank - The Ideal Christmas Present for Gardeners or Budding Scientists

Are you struggling to find an unusual present for the gardener in your life? Or an exciting experiment to intrigue the budding scientist? The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank has the perfect solution, a mini seed bank with everything you need to collect and preserve seeds from year to year or for decades to come.

Arising from studies into improved seed conservation technology, The Millennium Seed Bank has developed a ‘mini seed bank’ kit that will enable people to harvest, process and store seeds following the same principles adopted in large scale seed banks. Ideal for enthusiastic gardeners to maximize the useful life of garden plant seeds, including bought packets, it also forms a fascinating introduction into the principles of seed conservation technology.

The main component of the kit is a high quality polythene box that acts both as a drying chamber and as the ‘seed bank’ at the end of the season. Also supplied are seed containers, silica gel and an ingenious indicator system that mimics the seed drying process. The kit comes with a detailed instruction manual. Seeds are not supplied and the kit is not suitable for children under five years due to small parts.

The mini seed bank is available from Kew’s shops at Kew Gardens, London, and Wakehurst Place, West Sussex; via mail order from 020 8332 5654 for £19.95 (plus £3.00 p&p); or through the seed bank's website at www.kew.org/msbp. Orders must be received by 10 December to guarantee delivery by 21 December 2007.

All proceeds will be used to support the work of Kew at The Millennium Seed Bank.

-ENDS-

Information and Images

Please contact Sharon Buckley in the Millennium Seed Bank Press Office. Telephone: 01444 894018 Email: s.buckley@kew.org

Please visit www.kew.org/msbp for further information about The Millennium Seed Bank.

Notes to Editors

The Millennium Seed Bank is the largest wild plant seed bank in the world, owned and managed by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and located at Wakehurst Place, RBG Kew’s site in West Sussex. The Millennium Seed Bank Project is one of the most ambitious global conservation projects. By 2010, RBG Kew and its partners will have collected and conserved seed from 10% of the world’s wild flowering plant species (c.30, 000 species). The Millennium Seed Bank has the capacity to store up to half the world’s wild flowering plant species and already holds 88% of the UK’s flora, including more than 75% of its threatened plant species. Species for collection and conservation are prioritised by Kew’s partners: all are endangered, rare or of potential economic value. The Millennium Seed Bank has been made possible with generous funding from the Millennium Commission, the Wellcome Trust and Orange plc and other donors; however, it has no secured funding beyond 2010. For further information please visit www.kew.org/msbp.

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