Kew is at the forefront of saving plant life worldwide and thereby helping to tackle climate change
Plants are essential to the air we breathe, the food we eat and in supporting other species on the planet. Plants also have an essential role to play in mitigating the effects of climate change, because they take carbon out of the atmosphere. Conversely if plants are destroyed then carbon is added to the atmosphere, and 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 science-based approach to conserving plant life helps to combat climate change and hence protect our future. The size and diversity of Kew’s collections (including over seven million preserved plant specimens) are vital in understanding the way plants are distributed around the world, and how this might change. Kew is also leading UK efforts to implement the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation.
One of Kew's most significant conservation initiatives is the Millennium Seed Bank partnership. This ambitious project aims to secure the safe storage of 25% of the world’s plants by 2020, targeting species and regions most at risk from climate change and the ever-increasing impact of human activities. This conservation work is helping to increase the life chances of plants around the world, and we're inviting you to help by adopting a seed or saving an entire species at the Millennium Seed Bank.
Other vital conservation work at Kew includes compiling conservation assessments of 7,000 plant species at high risk of extinction. Vegetation surveys using GIS (Geographical Information Systems) and mapping techniques are also used to help improve land use, and reforest or improve degraded lands. An example is Kew’s work in Madagascar, where extensive mapping is helping to prioritise essential conservation efforts. Madagascar is home to an estimated 10,000-12,000 plant species, over 90% of which are found nowhere else on earth.
The trees and other plants at Kew Gardens and Wakehurst Place also provide valuable information about our climate and so provide an early warning of the effects of climate change. For example, we study the changes in plant life cycles over time (called phenology). Each year, scientists monitor and record the flowering dates of 100 native and exotic plants at Kew Gardens. Recent signs of change include a shift in the average flowering date of daffodils (Narcissus pseudonarcissus) and hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna). In the 1980s daffodils commonly flowered around the 12 February, but more recently this date has shifted to the 27 January, 16 days earlier.
Below are some recent stories about Kew's work in these and other areas.
Working together for a sustainable snowdrop trade
Kew is working in partnership to survey populations of snowdrops in Georgia. The project aims to survey cultivated and wild populations and make recommendations to establish long term sustainable trade.
Kew is helping to restore plant life and native habitats on remote islands in the Indian Ocean
A Kew scientist is spending two weeks on a ship to explore the status of plant life on islands of the Chagos Archipelago and help restore native habitats. Some areas have not been visited by botanists for more than 30 years.
Kew's work is helping to combat climate change and plants are essential in this effort
As world leaders sit down to discuss the future of our planet in Copenhagen this week, Kew believes that plants have never been more essential in combating climate change. Our Breathing Planet Programme plays a vital role in protecting some of the richest and most naturally diverse places on the planet, helping to mitigate and adapt to the effects of climate change.
Professor César Gómez-Campo - a founder figure in wild species seed banking
The Millennium Seed Bank conserves seeds of wild species. It might not have existed but for early pioneering work in Spain and at Kew.
Kew's Millennium Seed Bank partnership - Our projects in the South Atlantic Ocean
Kew's Millennium Seed Bank partnership is helping to save plant life in the Falkland Islands, St Helena and Ascension Islands for our future. Our focus is on plant life at risk and of most use in the future. Many plant species found on these islands are not found anywhere else on earth.
The next big challenge for Kew's Millennium Seed Bank partnership
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.
Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank partnership ‘top banana’ as it celebrates banking 10% of the world’s wild plant species
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.
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.
Kew launches habitat restoration project in Peru
Kew gains local support for its ecological rehabilitation of Peru's threatened Atacama Desert.
