The UK's seed bank gets its billionth seed

The billionth seed has just been collected by the UK Millennium Seed Bank, part of the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew, for safekeeping and conservation.

Sadi Sanogo in Mali collecting the billionth seed, Oxytenanthera abyssinica, for the Millennium Seed Bank. (c) RBG Kew

Largest conservation project in the world

The Millennium Seed Bank Project (MSBP) is the largest conservation project in the world. It is effectively a Noah's Ark for the biggest wild seed collection ever assembled, including 88 per cent of UK plants.

It is based on partnerships and collaborations with other organisations all over the globe and, although the projects vary in structure and scope, all aim to collect and conserve seeds.

By 2010 MSBP and its partners will have collected seeds from 10 per cent - 30,000 - of the world's wild plant species. These are not just common plants, but include the rarest, most threatened and most useful species known to man.

African bamboo plant

The latest – and billionth - addition to the bank is an African bamboo plant, Oxytenanthera abyssinica, which flowers only once every seven years. It is used by the people of Mali and other West African countries for furniture, building homes and even for making wine.

According to MSBP conserving the bamboo is a priority for a number of reasons: "it is a very useful plant, its natural habitat is under increasing threat and it seeds only once every seven years".

MSBP insurance policy

Paul Smith, head of MSBP said that "everyone in the world depends on nature and ecosystems for clean air and water to provide the conditions for a decent healthy and secure life. The need for the kind of insurance policy the MSBP provides has never been greater".

Although the UK Bank receives a duplicate of every seed collected, the collections themselves are kept in the country of origin in partner seed banks.

Seeds for the Bank are collected from all over the world. This one is the Eqyptian Juniperus phoenicea. (c) RBG Kew

Careful drying and storage

Most of the seeds are preserved by careful drying after which they are stored at minus 20 degrees celsius. Some will last for millennia, others for decades. But the idea is not to hide the seeds away for ever: where species are extinct these carefully stored supplies replenish the wild population.

Since the project started its collection in 2000 several countries have drawn on its depositry. For instance, drought-resistant forage plants have been sent to Pakistan and Mexico for animals to graze, and salt-tolerant forage plants have been used in Australia.

Samples available for research

Samples from the project's seed collection are available for research and conservation, both by organisations involved in collecting the seeds, and also by university departments and agricultural institutes. They have to sign agreements that the material sent to them can only be used for non-commercial scientific purposes and not exploited commercially.

The Seed Bank is supported by donations and grants from government, trusts and businesses in the UK, including the Wellcome Trust which houses MSBP's collection in its Millennium Building at Wakehurst Place in Sussex.

Visiting and more information

Visitors are also welcome and for more information about this and the Project's research programme, the countries in which it works and who its partners are, visit the website below.

英国千年种子库存入第十亿颗种子

最近，英国克佑区皇家植物园的千年种子库存入它的第十亿颗植物种子进行收集与保存。

Sadi Sanogo 在马里采撷千年种子库的第十亿颗种子——锐药竹林（Oxytenanthera abyssinica）。(c) 英国克佑区皇家植物园

全球最大的种子保护计划

新千年种子库计划是目前世界上最大的种子保护计划。这个储存全球最完备农作物物种的种子库是地球上最安全的“诺亚方舟”，囊括了英国88％的植物物种。

英国千年种子库项目与全球很多机构达成了协作关系，尽管各个机构的研究规模和范畴有所不同，但是他们的宗旨是一致的，那就是收集和保护植物物种。

截止到2010年，新千年种子库计划与其合作伙伴收集到自然界10％的物种约30，000种野生植物的种子。他们不仅包括普通植物物种，还包括稀有物种、濒危物种以及人所熟知的有用物种。

非洲竹

最近被存入种子库的一种非洲竹——锐药竹林是千年种子库的第十亿颗植物种子，这种植物每七年开花一次。马里人和其他西非国家的人民常用它来做家具、建造房屋，甚至是酿酒。

根据新千年种子库计划，对这种竹子进行保护有着多方面的优势：“用途广泛；生长环境恶劣，生命力强；每七年开花结籽一次。”

新千年种子库计划的保单

新千年种子库计划的负责人Paul Smith表示：“人类依靠大自然及生态系统获取清洁的空气和水分，来保障健康安全的生活所需要的条件。现在，人类对新千年种子库计划提供“保单”的需求达到了空前的热烈程度。”

尽管英国千年种子库保存的每个植物物种都备有副本，但所有的这些收藏都被保存在种子原产国的伙伴种子库中。

千年种子库所收藏的植物物种来自全球各地。图中的植物是埃及腓尼基桧。 (c) 英国克佑区皇家植物园

精心干燥和储藏植物种子

绝大多数种子经过仔细的干燥之后，被存储在温度为零下20℃的冷库内，他们的保存期限可达几十年，甚至上千年。然而，千年种子库计划的目的不是把植物种子永久的封藏起来，而是在植物物种灭绝的地方，将这些经过精心储藏的种子归还自然，以平衡野生生态系统。

自2000年建立以来，千年种子库的种子收藏已初具规模，并提供给很多国家，如抗旱的饲料植物种子被运往巴基斯坦和墨西哥，以饲养当地的动物；而抗盐的植物种子则提供给澳大利亚。

研究用样本

种子库收藏的种子样本随时方便参与种子收集的机构、大学学院、农业部门进行种子研究与保存工作，条件是这些机构和部门必须签署协议，确保这些种子只能作非商业性科学研究之用，不能做商用。

种子库是一个赞助性的计划，得到了英国政府、各信托组织以及商界的赞助，这些机构中包括座落于苏塞克斯郡克佑区皇家植物园千禧大厦新千年种子库计划收藏中心的威康信托基金会。

滴答网在此感谢英国驻广州总领事馆提供稿件