Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Type Non-departmental public body
Location
Key people
Budget
£59.7 million[1]
Employees
750[2]
Mission To be the global resource in plant and fungal knowledge, and the world's leading botanic garden.
Website www.kew.org
Palm House, Kew Gardens

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 jointly with the Forestry Commission, founded Bedgebury Pinetum in Kent, specialising in growing conifers.

The organisation has an average of 1 million paying visitors per year. The 326 acre site has 40 historically important buildings and collections of over 40,000 species of plants. Kew Gardens became a United Nations World Heritage Site on 3 July 2003.[7]

Governance

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

Scientific staff

Kew employs approximately 250 scientists,[21] and also hosts over 40 PhD students and 88 honorary research fellows and associates. The Director of Science is University of Oxford Professor Kathy Willis. Her deputy is Professor Monique Simmonds. Professor Mark Chase is Senior Research Professor.[21]

Resources at Kew

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 19th century to provide an "Index to the Names and Authorities of all known flowering plants and their countries".[22]

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.[23][24] 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.[25]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Annual report 2012-13" (PDF). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 30 June 2014. Retrieved 6 February 2015.
  2. 1 2 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. 1 2 3 "Board of Trustees". People and departments. Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. Retrieved 6 February 2015.
  5. ↑ "Seed science". Millennium Seed Bank Partnership. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 15 September 2014.
  6. ↑ "Projects and partners". Millennium Seed Bank Partnership. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 15 September 2014.
  7. ↑ Guinness World Records 2011. Guinness World Records. 2010. p. 69. ISBN 978 1 904994 57 2.
  8. ↑ Lusher, Adam (13 January 2015). "Duchess of Northumberland accuses Kew Gardens of 'copying' her treehouse idea". The Independent. Retrieved 6 February 2015.
  9. ↑ "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.
  10. 1 2 "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.
  11. 1 2 3 "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.
  12. ↑ KARET, Ian Albert Nathan. ukwhoswho.com. Who's Who. 2014 (online Oxford University Press ed.). A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc. (subscription required)
  13. ↑ KESWICK, Sir Henry (Neville Lindley). ukwhoswho.com. Who's Who. 2014 (online Oxford University Press ed.). A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc. (subscription required)
  14. ↑ "Reappointments to the Board of Trustees, the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew" (Press release). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 29 September 2014. Retrieved 6 February 2015.
  15. ↑ LOUDON, George Ernest. ukwhoswho.com. Who's Who. 2014 (online Oxford University Press ed.). A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc. (subscription required)
  16. ↑ MYERS, Sir Derek (John). ukwhoswho.com. Who's Who. 2014 (online Oxford University Press ed.). A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc. (subscription required)
  17. ↑ "Reappointment to the Board of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew" (Press release). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 27 January 2015. Retrieved 6 February 2015.
  18. ↑ SPENCE, Prof. Nicola Jane. ukwhoswho.com. Who's Who. 2014 (online Oxford University Press ed.). A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc. (subscription required)
  19. ↑ ULLMAN, Jennifer Margaret. ukwhoswho.com. Who's Who. 2014 (online Oxford University Press ed.). A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc. (subscription required)
  20. ↑ VYVYAN, Sir (Ralph) Ferrers (Alexander). ukwhoswho.com. Who's Who. 2014 (online Oxford University Press ed.). A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc. (subscription required)
  21. 1 2 "Science staff: About us". London: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
  22. ↑ Hooker, Joseph Dalton, 1893 Preface. In Index Kewensis: an enumeration of the genera and species of flowering plants from the time of Linnaeus to the year 1885 inclusive (ed. B. D. Jackson). Oxford: Clarendon.
  23. ↑ 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. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
  24. ↑ "World's Largest Plants Database Assembled". Discovery News. 29 December 2010. Retrieved 15 September 2014.
  25. ↑ 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.

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