The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is a world-famous scientific organization, internationally respected for its outstanding collections as well as its scientific expertise in plant diversity, conservation and sustainable development in the UK and around the world. Over 300 scientists currently work at Kew and produce State of the World’s Plants and Fungi reports, which track the progress and decline of species at a time when one in five plant species are estimated to be threatened with extinction worldwide.

Kew Gardens is also a major international and a top London visitor attraction, with its 132 hectares of landscaped gardens and sister site at Wakehurst attracting over 2.3 million visits every year. Wakehurst is home to Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank, the largest wild plant seed bank in the world, storing 2.3 billion seeds, which in the future, if required, can be germinated and reintroduced to the wild or used in scientific research.  

Kew is a charity, receiving approximately one third of its funding from Government through the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and research councils, with further funding from donors, membership and commercial activity.

The Millennium Seed Bank

The Millennium Seed Bank at Wakehurst leads in the ex situ conservation of wild plant species, with priority given to collections of species that are most threatened and potentially most useful. Its collection is the largest and most diverse collection of wild plant genetic resources in the world. MSB works in partnership with the Crop Trust on the 10-year project: Adapting Agriculture to Climate Change: Collecting, Protecting and Preparing Crop Wild Relatives  to collect important species of crop wild relatives, ensure their long-term conservation, and facilitate their use in breeding new, improved crops. Their team will aid in the organization of the entire Experience in London. 

Photo: Kew Gardens