Press Release

Kew's Millennium Seed Bank deposits UK flora collections as part of China seed bank launch

China's largest seed bank, the Germplasm Bank of Wild Species (GBWS) at the Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yunnan Province, is celebrating its international launch to the scientific community today (30 October 2008).

As part of the celebrations a delegation from Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank Partnership (MSBP) is in China and seeds from 204 species of UK flora are being lodged at the Chinese facility. The ceremony is being supported by the UK’s World Collections Programme, which is funded by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and chaired by the British Museum.

The UK flora collections join 14,000 seed collections already saved in the GBWS in China.

The China seed bank was set up with significant assistance from staff at Kew’s MSBP, who advised on the design, technical specification and layout of the facility.

Training in the UK has been provided for six staff from the GBWS, and capacity building workshops on seed conservation practice have been held in China. Joint science initiatives are now strengthening through two PhD studentships and the development of a seed germination testing programme at GBWS.

Professor Hugh Pritchard, Head of Research at Kew's Millennium Seed Bank, says: “Southwestern China is an area of exceptional plant biodiversity; however the region is increasingly under threat from agricultural and industrial development. When Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank Partnership formally joined with the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2004 one of our key aims was to help our Chinese partner accelerate their wild plant conservation work in the region. It is fantastic to see this new facility up and running.

“The programme in China is making a major contribution towards Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank Partnership’s target of collecting and conserving 10% of the world’s flora by 2010.”

Under the agreement between Kew and the Chinese Academy of Sciences, 4,000 threatened and endemic plant species from China are being targeted for conservation in the GBWS by 2010.

An orchid conservation biotechnology project, funded by Defra’s Darwin Initiative, is also providing links between Kew, Kunming Institute of Botany and other institutes in China. Kew’s scientific links with China already extend to Tarim University in Xinjiang Province, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanic Gardens in Yunnan and the Institute of Medicinal Plant Development (IMPLAD) in Beijing.

Ends

Professor Hugh Pritchard, Head of Research at Kew's Millennium Seed Bank, is available for interview in China until 6 November.

For more information please contact Bronwyn Friedlander at the Kew Gardens press office on 020 8332 5605. Main press office number 020 8332 5607 or email pr@kew.org. For out of hours queries please call 020 8332 5000.

For more information about the Germplasm Bank of Wild Species please contact:
Dr Xiang-yun Yang, Manager, Germplasm Bank of Wild Species, Kunming Institute of Botany, email Yxy@mail.kib.ac.cn

Dr Li De-Zhu, Director, Kunming Institute of Botany, email dzl@mail.kib.ac.cn or +86 (0)871 522 3503

Notes to editors:

• The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (RBG Kew) is a world famous scientific organisation, internationally respected for its outstanding living collection of plants and world-class herbarium as well as its scientific expertise in plant diversity, conservation and sustainable development in the UK and around the world.  Kew Gardens is a major international visitor attraction and its 132 hectares of landscaped gardens attract over one million visitors per year.  Kew was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in July 2003 and celebrates its 250th anniversary in 2009. For further information please visit www.kew.org.

• By 2010, RBG Kew and its partners in the Millennium Seed Bank Partnership will have collected and conserved seed from 10 per cent of the world's wild flowering plant species (c.30,000 species). The aim is to conserve 25 per cent by 2020; however the project currently has no secured funding post 2010. Funds are being actively sought in order to continue to develop this vital work. For further information please visit www.kew.org/msbp.
• This year the Kunming Institute of Botany is celebrating its 70th anniversary and as part of the celebrations will host an International Symposium on the Sustainable Use of Plant Resources (28 to 30 October, 2008). For more information about the programme of events taking place at the Kunming Institute of Botany visit http://www.kib.ac.cn/Html/KIB70/kib70_news/kib70_InternationalSymposium/135211472.html
• Species of UK flora collected by RBG Kew that will be lodged at GBWS include the corn marigold (Chrysanthemum segetum), once considered a common weed and now almost eradicated in the wild; the parasitic common dodder (Cuscuta epithymum), which is most ; the bright yellow globe flower (Trollius europaeus), a scarce plant of riverbanks and damp woodlands; the carnivorous round-leaved sundew (Drosera rotundifolia), often found in bogs and marshes; and the spring flowering cowslip (Primula veris), traditionally used as a sedative but now increasingly rare as its habitat has largely been lost through agriculture.
• China is regarded as the third most biodiverse country in the world. It is home to over 30,000 vascular plants, 50 per cent of which are endemic. It is also home to 10 per cent of the world's fauna.
• The World Collections Programme is a £3M initiative funded by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and chaired by the director of the British Museum, Neil MacGregor. The World Collections Programme aims to share British excellence and expertise with museums in Africa and Asia. Participating institutes include the British Museum, Victoria and Albert Museum, British Library, Natural History Museum, Tate and RBG Kew.

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