Conservation and Sustainable Use

The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is widely recognised as one of the leading centres for advice and action on aspects of plant and fungal conservation. Conservation programmes are undertaken on a wide range of endangered and threatened plants and their habitats. An advanced range of techniques, including storage and cryopreservation of seeds, embryos and pollen, and micropropagation, are used to support both ex situ and in situ conservation projects. We are increasingly called upon for advice and to help with the development of international conservation strategies.

Our activities and initiatives in the field of conservation include:

• acting as the UK CITES Scientific Authority for Plants

• seed conservation at the Millennium Seed Bank

• the Threatened Plants Appeal

• training courses in plant conservation techniques

• research on the commercial use of wild and traditionally managed plants in the UK

• participating in collaborative research throughout the world

• restoration ecology

Many of our activities also contribute to the implementation of the objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) , namely the conservation of biodiversity, the sustainable use of its components, and the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising from access to genetic resources.

In August 2003, Kew’s CBD Unit produced ‘The CBD for Botanists’, a user-friendly manual for botanical institutions on the CBD and practical implementation. In July 2008 Kew's CBD Unit published an Access and Benefit Sharing Bibliography,

On 6 March 2001, Kew endorsed the Principles on Access to Genetic Resources and Benefit-Sharing developed by 28 botanic gardens and herbaria from 21 countries worldwide (also available in Chinese, French, German, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish). Please see the list of institutions that have endorsed the Principles, and an explanatory text which provides some background information on the project, and may be of assistance to institutions wishing to develop access and benefit-sharing policies based on these Principles.  In line with these Principles, Kew has now developed its 'Policy on Access to Genetic Resources and Benefit-Sharing' (pdf).

Conserving Wildlife Habitats

We have fascinating collections of very different native wildlife at both Kew and Wakehurst Place; why not visit Wakehurst Place and see for yourself, by taking a guided walk around the Loder Valley Nature Reserve or a wildlife tour?

• wildlife database

• phenology database

We also have some interesting conservation links and Economic Botany Links