The Wellcome Trust Millennium building

His Royal Highness Prince Charles officially opened the Millennium Seed Bank (MSB) in 2000, describing it as “a gold reserve … a place where this reserve currency, in this case life itself, is stored.”

Opening times:

10:00am - 5:00pm (1 March - 31 October)
10:00am - 3:30pm (1 November to end February) 

The current 5,500 m² complex of buildings succeeded earlier cold stores of seeds held at Kew and Wakehurst. Named the Wellcome Trust Millennium Building in acknowledgement of its primary funder, the building comprises three glass distinct sections housing laboratories, seed-preparation facilities and a public exhibition area, beneath which lies a vast storage vault. By storing seeds, the MSB aims to provide an insurance policy against the extinction of plants in the wild.

The MSB team initially aimed to store seeds from all of the UK’s native plant species. It has now achieved this, apart from a handful of species that are either very rare or whose seeds are particularly difficult to store. It also set the goal of banking seeds from 10% of the world’s flora by 2010. This was achieved in 2009 when it banked seeds from the 24,200th species, a pink wild banana from China (Musa itinerans) which is an important staple food for wild Asian elephants. The aim for the next phase of the Millennium Seed Bank Partnership (MSBP) is to conserve 25% of the world’s plant species by 2020.

The MSB scientists work with partners in 50 countries around the world. They tend to collect seeds from alpine, dryland, coastal and island ecosystems, as these are most vulnerable to climate change. Plants from arid locations can tolerate being dried out and frozen for many years, whereas those from moist tropical areas are harder to store. The MSBP targets plants that are endemic to their location (not found anywhere else), economically important or endangered. Its work around the world is aimed at helping nations meet international objectives, such as the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation and the Millennium Development Goals of the United Nations Environment Programme.

Things to look out for

Outside the Wellcome Trust Millennium Building, three giant symbolic seeds form the sculpture Inner compulsion, carved from Kilkenny limestone by Peter Randall-Page. There are also exhibits of threatened British habitats planted inside eight Millennium Seed Bank Parterres. Inside the building, you can learn about the work of the MSB and its scientists in the permanent Millennium Seed Bank Exhibition.

Kids’ mission

• Think about your day and your journey to Wakehurst Place. Can you name five plants that you have already relied upon today? What did you eat for breakfast? What are you wearing? How did you travel to Wakehurst? How different would your day have been if those plants became extinct?

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