What We Do

The Millennium Seed Bank Project seeks to develop a global seed conservation network, capable of safeguarding wild plant species. This will make direct contributions to national and global conservation/development programs, and will make a big contribution to meeting the objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). The current project runs until 2010 and the key objectives are:

• To collect seeds, herbarium specimens and data from 24,200 species worldwide, including the entire UK seed-bearing flora, and to conserve these collections to international standards, both at the Millennium Seed Bank and in the countries of origin;
• To establish and develop partnerships and networks to meet these conservation objectives;
• To make seeds available for conservation in the wild and for research;
• To carry out research to improve all aspects of seed conservation;
• To facilitate access to information and transfer of best practice in seed banking to all project partners and the wider scientific community, and
• To increase public awareness of the need for plant conservation.

We also provide innovative advice and solutions to seed-conservation problems, including seed bank design and management services. For more information see our Innovation Services brochure.