Press Release

Millennium Seed Bank re-germinates website

The Millennium Seed Bank, part of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, has rejuvenated www.kew.org/msbp to create an inspiring and dynamic website, packed full of easy to navigate, fresh information about its global seed conservation project.

The Millennium Seed Bank portal has undergone a vibrant redesign to increase its visual appeal. Its technical content has been greatly revised and this will be updated regularly to incorporate breaking news, ensuring information is up to the moment with the constantly changing botanic environment.

There are three completely new sections: Why Save Seeds and Uses of Seed clearly demonstrate the importance of seeds to both the global environment and human life. They explain how plants are threatened and outline the vital role of seed banks as an insurance policy against the extinction of plants in the wild and in providing options for their future use. The third section, Plant Stories, brings the relevance of these seeds alive.

The work of the Millennium Seed Bank is explained in depth, including how seeds are harvested, processed and stored to ensure their longevity for hundreds and, perhaps, thousands of years. The Millennium Seed Bank partnerships in 126 countries are detailed, along with information about its training capabilities and seed bank construction projects worldwide.

The Millennium Seed Bank, situated in the grounds of Wakehurst Place, West Sussex, aims to safeguard 10 per cent of the world’s wild flowering plant species by 2010. It is open to the public seven days a week. An interactive exhibition explains the pioneering role of the seed bank and visitors are able to see the work of scientists at first hand.

For further information, visit www.kew.org/msbp.

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 conservation projects in the world. Conceived after the first Earth Summit in Rio in 1992, the Millennium Seed Bank Project was based on the three central tenets of the Convention on Biological Diversity: conservation, sustainable use and equitable sharing of benefits. 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 and of potential economic value. The Millennium Seed Bank Project has been made possible with generous funding from the Millennium Commission, the Wellcome Trust and Orange plc and other donors. The Millennium Seed Bank has no secured funding beyond 2010. For further information please visit www.kew.org/msbp.

Wakehurst Place comprises 500 acres of formal gardens, exotic plant collections, natural woodlands and wetland conservation areas. Located at Ardingly, four miles north of Haywards Heath, West Sussex, it is open daily, from 10am, except December 24 and 25. Admission is free for children under 17. For more information, telephone 01444 894066 or visit www.kew.org

Information and Images

MEDIA enquiries to the Press Office on 01444 894018 or email msb@kew.org

IMAGES from http://www.kew.org/press/images/wakehurst

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