Millennium Seed Bank marks 25 years

The Millennium Seed Bank at Wakehurst celebrated 25 years of conserving wild plant diversity, marking a quarter-century since its 2000 launch by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. The underground facility stores nearly 2.5 billion seeds from more than 40,000 species in hermetically sealed containers at about −20°C, forming the world’s largest wild plant seed collection and a global repository of genetic diversity.

Scientists say the bank’s holdings include rare and regionally important species with immediate relevance for food, agriculture and habitat restoration, not just long-term insurance. Over the past 25 years the Seed Bank has built a network of 279 partner organisations across more than 100 countries, trained over 3,000 scientists in seed‑conservation techniques and supported restoration and ecological research worldwide. Field teams collect seeds from diverse ecosystems—from arid African landscapes to Arctic tundra—then dry, clean, test viability and package samples for long‑term storage.

Kew launched a £30 million “Seeds Future Fund” to expand research and partnerships and to shift emphasis from passive banking toward active use of collections for ecosystem restoration and climate resilience. Bank staff and partners highlight that restoration efforts will rely on seed banks to supply species richness adapted to hotter future climates.

The anniversary comes amid warnings that global plant loss remains severe: Kew’s 2023 State of the World Plants & Fungi report estimates roughly 45% of flowering plant species are at risk of extinction. The Seed Bank plans to scale up work that uses stored material to regenerate degraded landscapes, safeguard genetic resources and support agricultural and conservation needs in a changing climate.

While celebrating its achievements—massive curated collections, capacity building and international collaboration—Kew and Millennium Seed Bank scientists stress the mission continues: preserving and deploying wild seeds to maintain biodiversity, bolster ecological resilience and provide practical resources for restoration and food security as environmental threats intensify.