Why the Millennium Seed Bank partnership is helping to save the world's plants

Plants are important for life, and some plants and habitats are under threat. Kew's Millennium Seed Bank partnership is helping to save the world's plants and habitats at risk of extinction.

MSB's Michiel Van Slageren and Micah Visoiu of DPIW, collecting seeds on the road between Mount Field and Strathgordon, close to the World Heritage Area national park in south-central Tasmania, Australia

Seed banks provide insurance against the loss of plant species in the wild. Kew's Millennium Seed Bank partnership (MSBP) has already saved the seeds from six plant species that are now extinct in the wild. We have saved the seeds from many more species that are down to just a few plants.

Most of the seeds saved at Kew's Millennium Seed Bank will survive for decades under seed bank conditions. Many will remain viable for hundreds of years. Visit the MSBP's seed count to find out how many new species and seeds we've saved.

Safeguarding the power of plants for our future

Seed banks provide options for the future use of plants. Scientists at Kew's Millennium Seed Bank partnership test each seed collection to make sure we know how to germinate them. This means we can turn the seeds we conserve into plants in the future and investigate their properties to find out if they can be used in new ways.

If these plants are lost in the wild, our seeds will be the only remaining material from these species available for use in medicines, crop improvements, and all other uses of plants.

Saving habitats world wide

Seed banks also provide a source of high quality seed material for use in the recovery and restoration of threatened plants and habitats.

Some of our partners in the UK have successfully reintroduced starfruit to Greenham Common helping to secure the future of one of the UK's most rare aquatic plants. Our partners in the USA have regenerated tall grass prairie ensuring the re-establishment and long-term protection of a highly endangered ecosystem.

Our work in Madagascar has also resulted in the rehabilitation of mined lands. This is important because mining activities in the counrty have previously caused depletion of littoral forest zones. With a management programme in place, improved stewardship of these forests will ensure their protection and sustainable use by the local people that rely on them.