Trees, seeds and the Millennium Seed Bank.
by Chris, 2 December, 2016, 1 comments
Plants are vital to all food chains, to our existence. They provide foods (rice, wheat, peas, beans), building materials (timber), fibres for clothing (cotton), medicines (aspirin, quinine etc) and fuel (oils, biomass). However, habitats are being rapidly destroyed by activities such as agriculture, deforestation, road building and urban developments. This habitat loss is happening rapidly and conserving plants within threatened habitats is not always possible.
Collecting seeds and preserving them ex situ (away from their natural habitat) offers a cost effective way to save seeds and keep them for posterity. Later, and if, required they can be germinated (hopefully) and reintroduced to the wild, or used in scientific research. The Millennium Seed Bank (MSB) - which is based at Wakehurst Place in Sussex, Read more...
