Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

This article is about the non-departmental public body. For the botanical gardens in Kew, south-west London, see Kew Gardens.
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Type Non-departmental public body
Key people
Budget
 £59.7 million[1]
Employees
 750[2]
Mission To inspire and deliver science-based plant conservation worldwide, enhancing the quality of life
Website www.kew.org

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (brand name Kew) is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. An internationally important botanical research and education institution, it employs 750 staff.[2] Its chief executive is the current Director, Richard Deverell.[3] Its board of trustees is chaired by Marcus Agius, a former chairman of Barclays PLC.[4]

The organisation manages botanic gardens at Kew in Richmond upon Thames in southwest London, and at Wakehurst Place, a National Trust property in Sussex which is home to an internationally important Millennium Seed Bank. The Seed Bank is also the site of multiple research projects[5] and international partnerships with at least 80 countries.[6] Seed stored at the bank fulfils two functions: it provides an ex situ conservation resource and also facilitates research around the globe by acting as a repository for seed scientists. Kew also operates, jointly with the Forestry Commission, Bedgebury Pinetum in Kent, which specialising in growing conifers.

Governance

Kew is governed by a Board of Trustees[4] which comprises a chairman and 11 members. Ten members and the chair are appointed by the Secretary of State. Her Majesty the Queen appoints her own trustee on the recommendation of the Secretary of State.[4] As of 2015 the Board members are:

International Plant Names Index

The Harvard University Herbaria and the Australian National Herbarium co-operate with Kew in the IPNI database, a project which was launched in 1999 to produce an authoritative source of information on botanical nomenclature including publication details. The IPNI includes information from the Index Kewensis, a project which began in the nineteenth century to provide an "Index to the Names and Authorities of all known flowering plants and their countries".

The Plant List

Kew also cooperates with the Missouri Botanical Garden in a related project called The Plant List, which, unlike the IPNI, provides information on which names are currently accepted. The Plant List is an Internet encyclopedia project which was launched in 2010 to compile a comprehensive list of botanical nomenclature.[20][21] The Plant List has 1,040,426 scientific plant names of species rank of which 298,900 are accepted species names. In addition, the list has 620 plant families and 16,167 plant genera.[22]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Annual report 2012-13" (PDF). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 30 June 2014. Retrieved 6 February 2015.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Dyduch, Amy (28 March 2014). "Dozens of jobs at risk as Kew Gardens faces £5m shortfall". Richmond Guardian. Retrieved 26 June 2014.
  3. ↑ "Director". People and departments. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 25 June 2014.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 "Board of Trustees". People and departments. Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. Retrieved 6 February 2015.
  5. ↑ "Seed science". Millenium Seed Bank Partnership. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 15 September 2014.
  6. ↑ "Projects and partners". Millenium Seed Bank Partnership. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 15 September 2014.
  7. ↑ Lusher, Adam (13 January 2015). "Duchess of Northumberland accuses Kew Gardens of 'copying' her treehouse idea". The Independent. Retrieved 6 February 2015.
  8. ↑ "Reappointment to the Board of the Royal Botanic Gardens (RBG), Kew" (Press release). Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. 15 August 2012. Retrieved 6 February 2015.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 "Appointments to the Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew" (Press release). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 11 April 2014. Retrieved 6 February 2015.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 "Reappointments to the Board of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew" (Press release). Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs. 14 December 2012. Retrieved 6 February 2015.
  11. ↑ KARET, Ian Albert Nathan. Who's Who 2014 (online Oxford University Press ed.). A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc. (subscription required)
  12. ↑ KESWICK, Sir Henry (Neville Lindley). Who's Who 2014 (online Oxford University Press ed.). A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc. (subscription required)
  13. ↑ "Reappointments to the Board of Trustees, the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew" (Press release). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 29 September 2014. Retrieved 6 February 2015.
  14. ↑ LOUDON, George Ernest. Who's Who 2014 (online Oxford University Press ed.). A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc. (subscription required)
  15. ↑ MYERS, Sir Derek (John). Who's Who 2014 (online Oxford University Press ed.). A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc. (subscription required)
  16. ↑ "Reappointment to the Board of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew" (Press release). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 27 January 2015. Retrieved 6 February 2015.
  17. ↑ SPENCE, Prof. Nicola Jane. Who's Who 2014 (online Oxford University Press ed.). A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc. (subscription required)
  18. ↑ ULLMAN, Jennifer Margaret. Who's Who 2014 (online Oxford University Press ed.). A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc. (subscription required)
  19. ↑ VYVYAN, Sir (Ralph) Ferrers (Alexander). Who's Who 2014 (online Oxford University Press ed.). A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc. (subscription required)
  20. ↑ Bates, Claire (5 January 2011). "Botanical A-Z via Kew: British experts complete database of every plant name on the planet – all 1.25million of them". Daily Mail (London).
  21. ↑ "World's Largest Plants Database Assembled". Discovery News. 29 December 2010. Retrieved 15 September 2014.
  22. ↑ Satter, Raphael G. (29 December 2010). "US, British scientists draw up comprehensive list of world's known land plants". boston.com. Retrieved 15 September 2014.

External links

Media related to Kew Gardens at Wikimedia Commons