Last Great Plant Hunt, The: The Story of Kew's Millennium Seed Bank

Description

As humans adapt to a changing climate and planet, there is a pressing need for wild plant seed banks, and an urgent effort to conserve all plant diversity. Kew's Millennium Seed Bank is a unique, global asset. The largest seed bank of its kind in the world dedicated to wild plant species, it contains the world's most diverse seed collections. Over the past 10 years more than 3.5 billion seeds from nearly 25,000 species have been collected and stored in seed banks both in their country of origin and in Kew's Millennium Seed Bank. In October 2009 Kew's Millennium Seed Bank celebrated collecting, banking and conserving 10% of the world's wild plant species and the partnership now spans more than 120 institutions in 54 countries. The Last Great Plant Hunt describes the importance of seed collecting and the work of Kew's Millennium Seed Bank, the process of collecting and taking care of seeds, the uses of banked seed, and the future of seed conservation worldwide. Beautifully illustrated and engagingly written.

Sue Seddon is an author and former editor of Kew magazine. Carolyn Fry is a journalist and former editor of Geographical, the magazine of the Royal Geographical Society, and author of The Plant Hunters (Andre Deutsch, 2009) and The World of Kew (BBC Books, 2006). Carolyn Fry is a journalist and former editor of Geographical, the magazine of the Royal Geographical Society, and author of The Plant Hunters (Andre Deutsch, 2009) and The World of Kew (BBC Books, 2006). Gail Vines is a journalist and regular contributor to Kew magazine.

"This book explores the [Millennium Seed Bank] and succinctly and effectively discusses the importance of seeds. . . . The quality of the text and photography is excellent, but do not consign this book to the coffee table. Read it and, if suitably influenced by the urgency of this work, support their quest in any way you can."-- "Biologist" "Filled with striking color photographs (many full page) of plants and seeds from all over the world, the volume looks like it should be on a coffee table, rather than in an academic library. . . . Informative and inspiring." -- "Choice"