Alpine Seed Conservation and Research Network

From 12-14 September partners from Pavia (Italy), Geneva (Switzerland) and Gap (France) visited RBG Kew as part of the Alpine Seed Conservation and Research project.

The first day was spent touring Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank (MSB) in the Sussex countryside south of London. For many partners this was their first visit to the MSB and they were keen to learn about our processes and share their experiences. They were also able to meet with our germination specialists and discuss some of the trickier to grow species that we are conserving. Finally, the Head of Landscape and Horticulture provided a tour of the grounds of Wakehurst, Kew’s country garden, highlighting the links between horticulture and science at Kew, and with the seed stored at the MSB.

The next two days were spent at Kew Gardens in London for the State of the World’s Fungi symposium – an enlightening event packed full of great talks. During the schedule we managed to find time to visit the Davies Alpine House and have a behind the scenes tour of the alpine nursery.