Kew event to mark International Biological Diversity Day

RBG Kew's Millennium Seed Bank Project is widely regarded as one of the most ambitious conservation projects in the world. Conceived after the first Earth Summit in Rio in 1992, the MSBP is based on the three central tenets of the Convention on Biological Diversity: conservation, sustainable use and equitable sharing of benefits. Today, the MSBP holds the largest wild seed collection in the world and works with over 100 partner organisations in 50 countries forming a global network to provide an effective, low-cost insurance against the loss of species in their natural environments due to threats that include the effects of climate change, the theme of this year's International Biological Diversity Day.

Banking the billionth seed in the vaults of Kew's Millennium Seed Bank, Barry Gardiner, said: "I'm delighted to be here today to mark the banking of the billionth seed in Kew's Millennium Seed Bank. It is an amazing statistic, and an achievement to be really proud of.

"Kew's Millennium Seed Bank must be one of the most significant conservation projects ever. It is a global insurance policy against the loss of uniquely valuable plant species through land pressures or dangerous climate change".

Current predictions estimate that many plant species may become extinct as a result of climate change. Kew's Millennium Seed Bank already contains the seeds of more than 18,000 wild plant species from 126 countries with duplicate collections in partner seed banks world wide. This includes 88% of the total UK flora, including those facing the most threat from climate change. By 2010, 10% of the world's wild flowering plant species (totalling 30,000 species) will be banked, with priority given to those that are endangered, endemic or of current local use or potential economic use.

Ahmed Djoghlaf, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity said, 'Climate change is a long-term threat to biodiversity and to human well-being. The Millennium Seed Bank is a long-term response to this threat.' Predicted impacts of further temperature rises include increasing threats to human wellbeing including water and food shortages. Kew's Millennium Seed Bank Project currently focuses on dryland regions particularly sub-Saharan Africa where local populations, among the poorest of the world, are particularly vulnerable to desertification and other climate threats. Kew's Millennium Seed Bank Project works with international partners to conserve plants, and enable their use in agriculture, horticulture, forestry and habitat restoration - all essential elements in human adaptation to climate change.

The conservation and repair of habitats can reduce the amount of CO2 released into the atmosphere and conserving certain species, such as drought resistant crop wild relatives can reduce the impacts of famine or other climate-related impacts. At the same time, conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity can strengthen ecosystem resilience, improving the ability of ecosystems to provide critical services in the face of increasing climatic pressures.

Professor Stephen Hopper, Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, said: 'We are committed to inspiring and delivering science-based plant conservation worldwide, enhancing the quality of life. Kew's Millennium Seed Bank Project is a key part in our global partnership programme to achieve this outcome.' Over the past 5 years, over 3,000 seed collections have been used to support research in the key sustainability areas of water, environment, health, agriculture and biodiversity. The MSBP team is heavily involved with capacity building; seed conservation facilities have been installed in 10 African countries and 1,200 people worldwide have been trained in applied seed conservation techniques. With Defra and the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation, the MSBP is currently working with agricultural seed banks in 29 sub-Saharan countries to develop methodologies that will enable the sustained use of c. 220 plant species that are important to local communities.

Kew's Millennium Seed Bank has the capacity to store seeds from half of the world's wild plant species, and each one of these seeds has the potential to become a plant. Despite its achievements and enormous potential for future conservation, the project has limited funding post 2010. Given adequate funding, Kew's Millennium Seed Bank Project, working with its international partners, aims to have collected and banked seed from 25% of the world's plant species by 2020.

Speaking about RBG Kew's Millennium Seed Bank Project recently, Gordon Brown said, 'There can be nothing more important than discussing the future of our environment: the conservation; the sustainability of it; and the equity to all the countries and peoples of the world... what you are doing is preserving the planet and what you are doing is making sure that people can enjoy the planet in the right way in years to come.'