Wakehurst
Daily guided walking tour of Wakehurst
See plants of seasonal interest and discover the fascinating history of Wakehurst on this guided tour.
Find out more about the tourMillennium Seed Bank
A vital hub for scientific activity where you can learn more about our mission to conserve the world’s plant species.
In light of the current coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, we are sorry to inform you that the Atrium in the Millennium Seed Bank is closed until further notice.
With around one in five plant species estimated to be threatened with extinction worldwide, seed banks are an effective means of preserving the world’s plants for the future.
The Millennium Seed Bank (MSB) is a growing collection of seeds from around the world, aiming to provide a safety net for species at risk of extinction.
Collecting seeds and preserving them ex situ (away from their natural habitat) offers an economical and effective way to save seeds and keep them for posterity. The rate of environmental change is happening so fast that it is not always possible to conserve plants within threatened habitats. In the future, if required, they can be germinated and reintroduced to the wild or used in scientific research.
'A gold reserve...a place where this reserve currency, in this case life itself, is stored.' – HRH the Prince of Wales at the opening of the Millennium Seed Bank in 2000.
Our progress
Britain is the first country in the world to have preserved its botanical heritage.
In 2009, we achieved our aim of storing seeds from all the UK’s native plant species – apart from a handful of species that are either very rare or whose seeds are particularly difficult to store.
The MSB is now the largest and most diverse wild plant species genetic resource in the world – the result of contributions from a global network working across more than 95 countries (the Millennium Seed Bank Partnership).
How we work
MSB scientists work with partners in more than 95 countries around the world. Where possible, collections of seeds stored at Wakehurst are duplicated in seed banks in the country where they were collected.
The team focuses on plants:
- from alpine, dryland, coastal and island ecosystems - these are most vulnerable to climate change
- from arid locations - these can tolerate being dried out and frozen for many years, whereas those from moist tropical areas are harder to store
- endemic to their location (not found anywhere else), economically important or endangered
The work also helps nations meet international objectives, such as the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation and the Millennium Development Goals of the United Nations Environment Programme.
History and design of the building
The Wellcome Trust Millennium Building replaced earlier cold stores of seeds held at Kew and Wakehurst.
Three glass sections house laboratories, seed-preparation facilities and a public exhibition area. Under these lie a vast storage vault.
The building provides the best possible conditions for seed storage, maximising energy conservation while remaining in harmony with the surrounding landscape
On the parterre outside the MSB building, raised beds evoke eight threatened habitats of the British Isles. Seeds from these habitats are stored in the Millennium Seed Bank to preserve them for future generations.
Discover more of Wakehurst
Wakehurst
Surviving or Thriving: An exhibition on plants and us
A specially-curated exhibition about the state of the world’s plants and what this means for us.
Discover the exhibition
Wakehurst
Loder Valley Nature Reserve
Get closer to wildlife in our 40-acre nature reserve, home to 300 plant species as well as dormice, badgers, kingfishers, butterflies and more.
Explore the Loder Valley Nature Reserve