“Under-funded” Kew Gardens will benefit from a £130million Government funding package, confirmed ahead of the botanical gardens’ release of its first State of the World’s Plants report.
The 257-year-old gardens will not have its annual £20million grant cut over the next four years and has won an additional £50million over the same period to spend on maintenance and additional projects.
The announcement comes two years after Kew Gardens was forced to lay off more than 100 staff members, including 50 scientists, due to an annual deficit thought to be more than £5million.
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A spokesman from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), which part-funds the botanical gardens, said the approach will enable Kew to maintain its estate and support its world-class science while being place on a secure footing for the future.
The spokesman confirmed: “Defra has maintained funding to Kew in cash terms over this Spending Review, significantly increasing capital funding over the next four years.”
Kew Gardens’ State of the World’s Plants report, released today, is the first baseline assessment of current knowledge of the diversity of plants on Earth and the threats they face.
The report, which involved more than 80 scientists and took more than a year to produce, urges the global scientific community to secure the health of the planet.
Professor Kathy Willis, director of science at the Royal Botanic Gardens, said: “We already have a ‘State of the World’s birds, sea-turtles, forests, cities, mothers, fathers, children even antibiotics’ but not plants.
“I find this remarkable given the importance of plants to all of our lives– from food, medicines, clothing, building materials and biofuels, to climate regulation. This report therefore provides the first step in filling this critical knowledge gap.”
The report identified threats to plantlife, including the drought in South-East Asia (above)
She added: “But to have effect, the findings must serve to galvanise the international scientific, conservation, business and governmental communities to work together to fill the knowledge gaps we’ve highlighted and expand international collaboration, partnerships and frameworks for plant conservation and use.”
The report found there are 391,000 vascular plants known to science, with around 2,000 species described annually.
The report estimates that 21 per cent of the world’s plants are currently threatened with extinction.
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