Funding the MSBP

The Millennium Seed Bank Project was awarded a grant of £29.9m by the Millennium Commission . The work of the latter has now been taken over by the Big Lottery Fund , a key distributor of UK lottery money. This grant was initially awarded in 1995. A supplementary grant of £2.15m was awarded in 2003 to enhance aspects of the project and particularly the targeting of new collections.

In 1996, Orange plc became the primary sponsors of the public appeal with a donation of £2.5m. The following year, the Wellcome Trust , a leading medical charity, donated £9.2m towards the construction of the Wellcome Trust Millennium Building in recognition of the medicinal value of plants. RBG Kew is contributing £8.8m mainly from its grant-in-aid from Defra. Some £9.5m of 'in kind' support is estimated to have been provided by partner organisations.

Through the Foundation and Friends of Kew , public donations from individuals, charitable trusts and businesses have made valuable contributions to support the project. For the list of sponsors please see above right.

Despite the generous support received, this ambitious project still requires further funding to achieve its target of saving 10% of the world's plant species (mainly from the dry-lands) by 2010 . If you would like to support plant conservation at the MSB please make a donation.

Thank you.