UK Native Seed Hub

Enhancing the resilience and coherence of the UK’s ecological network by increasing the quality and diversity of seeds of UK species available to companies and NGOs

Dawn Brickwood (Weald Meadows Initiative collaborator) in a wild flower meadow at Beech Farm

Working alongside commercial companies and restoration practitioners, high quality, multiple-origin, seed collections will be made of priority UK species and stored to international standards to maintain viability and genetic integrity. In some instances, these ‘founder collections’ will be multiplied in seed production beds at Wakehurst Place. High quality seed samples will be made available to commercial seed companies for bulking up for use by conservation organisations in landscape-scale restoration projects.

We will continue to work with conservation agencies to safeguard the UK’s most threatened plants. Conservation collections will be held in long term storage, but seeds and plants will also be raised to support the re-introduction of these species to suitable sites.  This builds on successful support provided since 2006 for the re-introduction of starfruit (Damasonium alisma), starved wood sedge (Carex depauperata), triangular club rush (Schoenoplectus triqueter), fen violet (Viola persicifolia), spiked rampion (Phyteuma spicatum) and broad-leaved cudweed (Filago pyramidata).

The UK Native Seed Hub will include scientific research and development studies to strengthen the quality and diversity of UK native seeds and plants available for restoration, thus playing an important role in addressing the UK Government’s commitment to protecting biodiversity and improving the UK’s ecological network. Knowledge and information generated by the UK Native Seed Hub project will be shared freely and training will be provided to landowners and agencies wishing to grow and use native plants. The seed production beds will be an integral part of the visitor attraction at Wakehurst Place and will be used for education purposes.

The project has started with lowland meadow species and habitat restoration work will be carried out in partnership with The High Weald Landscape Trust’s Weald Meadows Initiative, based in East Sussex. The model established for lowland meadows will provide a blueprint for supporting restoration in another 40 priority habitats listed in the UK Biodiversity Action Plan, the UK Government’s response to the Convention on Biological Diversity. The UK Native Seed Hub also addresses concerns outlined in the Government’s Natural Environment White Paper and responds to the challenge of the Lawton review, ‘Making Space for Nature’ (2010).