State of the World's Plants and Fungi Symposium

Join international experts to discuss actions for conserving and restoring global plant and fungal biodiversity.

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Date and time

11 to 13 October 2023 – this event has taken place

Catch up by watching the recordings on YouTube via the links below, or through the Twitter X hashtag #SOTWPF

Location

Kew Gardens and online (hybrid event)

Key links

Symposium programme

Speaker abstracts

Poster presentations

FAQs

YouTube links

Day 1 recording
 

Day 2 recording
 

Day 3 recording
 

Sessions

The programme is based around six themed sessions in which invited experts will address topical questions through presentations and Q&A panel discussions.

Sessions 1 and 2: Where are the diversity hotspots and critical knowledge gaps? 

Session 3: What do we know about extinction risk?

Session 4: How do we accelerate our understanding of plant and fungal diversity? 

Session 5: How can we achieve global and national targets for biodiversity protection and restoration?

Special Session: Making biodiversity research count: Winning hearts and driving change 

Find out more about each of the speakers delivering this year's sessions on our speaker abstracts page.

In-person workshops

In-person delegates are invited to participate in four workshops to contribute their ideas and expertise towards the development of a symposium declaration. The declaration will set out a shared agreement and action plan for where scientific institutions aim to focus their collecting and research efforts to achieve the targets of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.

Workshop 1: Drafting the declaration part 1 – objectives, structure and process

Workshop 2: Taxonomy training to support the declaration

Workshop 3: Drafting the declaration part 2 – organisational commitments

Workshop 4: Green finance to support the declaration 

For those attending the workshops in-person, please be advised that a smartphone, laptop or tablet will be necessary to participate fully. The questions we’d like you to help us answer during the workshops are summarised in the programme. We recommend that you review these questions ahead of the workshops so that you can come prepared.

Please note, the workshops are not available to online attendees. 

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View the full SOTWPF Symposium Programme

What to expect from 11-13 October 2023

Location

The symposium will take place at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew – a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Lectures will be held in the Lady Sainsbury Lecture Theatre, Jodrell Laboratory, Kew Road, Surrey TW9 3DS. To access the building, please enter the Gardens via the Jodrell Gate on Kew Road (approximately 300m from Victoria Gate). 

Getting here

Google Maps

Internet and facilities

Free Wi-Fi access is available in all our buildings. To connect to our Wi-Fi, please select ‘Kew-Visitors’ from the available networks and accept the terms and conditions.

Kew’s Victoria Plaza shop (situated by Victoria Gate) sells a variety of books, gifts and gardening supplies.

Receive 10% off purchases here from 11–13 October 2023 by showing your symposium name badge at the point of purchase. Exclusions apply*

*Offer excludes tickets, membership and sale items, and may not be used in conjunction with any other offer.

You can also find a range of shops and restaurants near to Kew Bridge railway station, Kew Gardens station and Kew Green.

Accommodation

We strongly recommend that delegates book their accommodation as early as possible to secure availability and the best prices. Nearby accommodation is available at: 

Travelodge London Kew Bridge Hotel (0.9 miles away) 

Premier Inn London Kew Bridge Hotel (1.2 miles away) 

Premier Inn London Brentford Hotel (1.7 miles away)

Travelodge London Richmond Central (1.8 miles away)

Other local bed and breakfast accommodation can be found at: www.kewaccommodation.com

Please note, the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew cannot accept any responsibility for the information on the above list or the standard of accommodation services provided. 

Symposium dinner

A Symposium dinner will take place from 19:00 - 22:00 on Thursday 12 October and is available only to in-person delegates who selected this additional option during registration. 

The Symposium dinner will feature a speech from John E. Scanlon AO, Trustee, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, UK.

Tackling the nature emergency: Evidence, gaps and priorities

In conjunction with the publication of a groundbreaking report, scientists, policymakers, businesses, NGOs, the public and media will come together for the fifth international State of the World's Symposium.

Plants and fungi are the building blocks of our planet, with the potential to solve some of the greatest challenges facing humanity. But the vital resources and services they provide depend on diverse, healthy ecosystems. The future of these ecosystems, and life as we know it, hinges on the decisions we make today.

In October 2023 we will be publishing, in collaboration with international researchers, the fifth in our series of State of the World’s Plants and Fungi reports. The report takes a deep dive into our current knowledge on plant and fungal diversity and distribution – what we know, what we don’t know and where we need to focus our efforts.

This three-day hybrid symposium brings together experts to discuss findings presented in the report and to identify actions for understanding and protecting the world’s plant and fungal diversity. The discussions will be used to create a declaration containing a shared agreement and action plan for where scientific institutions aim to focus their collecting and research efforts to achieve the targets of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.

Twitter 

Follow @KewScience on Twitter for updates and join the conversation using #SOTWPF

Sponsors and exhibitors 

If you are interested in advertising, sponsorship or exhibitor opportunities at the symposium, please contact sotwpf@kew.org

The staff and Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew would like to thank the Sfumato Foundation for generously funding the State of the World’s Plants and Fungi project. 

Sfumato logo

Additional thanks to our State of the Worlds Plants and Fungi Symposium advertisers and exhibitors:

New Phytologist Foundation

Plants, People, Planet

Annals of Botany

Botany One

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State of the World's Plants and Fungi

Providing assessments of our current knowledge of the diversity of plants and fungi on Earth, the threats that they face, and the policies to safeguard them