Unlocking why plants and fungi matter - Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew strategy to 2020/21 - Kew Gardens
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2 Unlocking why plants and fungi matter Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew strategy to 2020/21
1
Contents
4 Foreword
5 Unlocking why plants and fungi matter
8 Looking to the future
11 Our objectives
14 Delivering our objectives
14 Collections for the benefit of humankind
17 S
cience that helps solve the critical challenges
facing humanity today
19 Creating the world’s leading botanic gardens
21 Sharing our knowledge through education
23 A sustainable and dynamic organisation
26 Achieving impact
2
Critical challenges
facing humanity
Biodiversity loss
Human population growth 1
Plant diseases
Food security
1
United Nations Department of Economic and
Social Affairs: http://esa.un.org/unpd/wpp/
Climate change
Graphs/Probabilistic/POP/TOT 2
2
Davis et al. 2012, PLoS ONE 7(11)
3
4 Foreword Unlocking Why Plants and Fungi Matter is our vision for how a better understanding of plants and fungi will contribute to solving some of the most critical challenges facing humanity today. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is already a world famous centre for botanical and mycological knowledge. Our two inspiring gardens enchant our visitors with the wonder of the world’s plant diversity; and we reach beyond our garden walls to excite and educate individuals and communities. Delivering this strategy will build on these successes as we aim to be the global resource for plant and fungal knowledge, building an understanding of the world’s plants and fungi upon which all our lives depend. Our goal is that every person who interacts with RBG Kew will discover something amazing about the world of plants and fungi, the importance of their diversity, and how all our lives can be improved through appreciating and understanding that diversity better. From showcasing the beauty of plant diversity in the Great Broad Walk Borders at Kew Gardens to digitising our scientific collections and releasing the data for others to use, we will be unlocking why plants and fungi matter. This is an exciting time in RBG Kew’s history. We are stewards of this organisation and the accumulated knowledge of our collections, data and people. By delivering this strategy successfully, our organisation will be stronger, we will reach and inspire more people, and contribute to solutions to our planet’s most serious contemporary challenges. Marcus Agius Richard Deverell Chairman Director
5
Unlocking why plants
and fungi matter
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew’s mission is to
be the global resource for plant and fungal
knowledge, building an understanding of the
world’s plants and fungi upon which all our
lives depend.
We use the power of our science and the
rich diversity of our gardens and collections
to provide knowledge, inspiration and
understanding of why plants and fungi matter
to everyone.
We want a world where plants and fungi are
understood, valued and conserved – because
all our lives depend on them.
6
7
8
Looking to
the future
The world needs RBG Kew now From its earliest days, the success
more than ever, and RBG Kew of RBG Kew has been interwoven
has more to offer the world in with the economic success of the
response. This document sets out United Kingdom and the wellbeing
our ambitions, our contemporary of people across the globe.
relevance, and the key activities
that will be our focus over the next This strategy builds on the
five years. successes of the past, allowing
RBG Kew to fully use the strengths
RBG Kew has constantly evolved of our heritage and the accumulated
in response to the demands and collections, knowledge and data we
needs of society over the 250 hold, while focusing on the urgent
years since Kew Gardens was needs of society today.
established by Princess Augusta.
9
Loss of biodiversity, climate Through increasing understanding RBG Kew staff are authentic and
change, rapidly-spreading pests of why plants and fungi matter, passionate experts who share their
and diseases, human population RBG Kew unlocks their potential. knowledge, stimulating curiosity
growth, and the associated This is an urgent task. We face and debate. Our many visitors
challenges of food security are unprecedented losses of biodiversity love the beauty and diversity of
causing unprecedented stress and rapid environmental change, our gardens and our activities
on human societies around the and risk losing the precious secrets beyond the garden walls inspire
world. Plants and fungi hold the that plants and fungi can give us millions more. We will use the
key to help solve these challenges before we discover them. If we unique combination of our data-
through the fundamental life-giving are successful in achieving our rich collections, our science and
processes they drive, the properties strategy, ecosystems and human our gardens to become the global
they contain, and the materials and societies across the globe will be voice for unlocking why plants and
food they provide. more resilient. fungi matter. If we are successful10 in achieving our strategy, people all We have set ourselves five strategic around the world will have a greater objectives to move RBG Kew forward understanding of why plants and successfully into the next decade. fungi matter. RBG Kew’s work ultimately benefits every human being on the planet today and in the future. We have a profound responsibility, our strategy is ambitious and it builds on the purpose and work of RBG Kew through its history.
11
Our objectives
Our science makes
a demonstrable
contribution to solving
critical challenges
facing humanity today
Our collections are
We are valued as the
pre-eminent provider
curated to excellent We are the world’s leading
botanic gardens where
of public education standards and are our large and diverse
on plant and fungal
science, conservation
widely used for the audiences develop their
understanding of why
and horticulture benefit of humankind plants and fungi matter
We are a sustainable
and dynamic
organisation, making
positive global impacts in
partnership with others13
14
Delivering our
objectives
Collections for the
benefit of humankind
The size and diversity of RBG Kew’s These collections are at the heart
collections are unique. They are of our future success. We will
a huge database for plant and curate them to excellent standards,
fungal diversity knowledge: one ensuring we are responsible
of the largest and most diverse stewards for these invaluable
global herbariums of dried, pressed assets. We will continue to develop
plant specimens and the largest our collections, ensuring they
fungarium in the world; the largest remain of contemporary relevance.
living plant collection of any botanic We will open up our collections,
garden and the world’s largest wild including the valuable data they
plant DNA and tissue bank, and the hold, ensuring they are widely used
only global wild plant seed bank. for active scientific purposes that
benefit humankind.15
More than seven million herbarium sheets, including 330,000
type specimens that were used to describe new species
1.25 million dried fungal specimens,
the largest such collection in the world
Nearly 180,000 individual plants from over 30,000
taxa, including 1,300 threatened species in our gardens
50,000 samples of DNA from over 35,000
species of plants in our DNA bank
More than 2 billion seeds, from 36,000 species of
plants in the Millennium Seed Bank in Wakehurst16
RBG Kew is a collections-based largest database of plant diversity crops. They can be used for
organisation, but many people are for the world. Through portals such research, innovation and as the
not aware of the incredible assets as Plants of the World Online and ultimate insurance against
that we hold and care for. the Useful Plants & Fungi Portal, we species extinction.
will bring together data, information
We aim to digitise our collections, to and insight on the diversity of the Through our combined actions on
complement the physical collections. plant and fungal kingdoms and banking endangered seeds and
We will explore opportunities to join their uses. our horticultural expertise, we are
forces with other botanic gardens saving species from extinction. Our
and herbaria across the UK to The Millennium Seed Bank living collection holds around 1,300
create a National Digital Herbarium, Partnership is the world’s species of conservation interest1,
pooling the resources of the UK’s largest ex-situ plant conservation including 13 species that are
plant collections to ensure our programme, aiming to bank extinct in the wild. Our horticultural
nation builds its reputation as the seeds from 25% of the world’s teams are experts in growing plants
global leader in plant taxonomy. plant species by 2020. Through that have never been propagated,
partnerships in more than 80 working with other botanical
We will release digitised data as countries, we focus on banking gardens around the world to ensure
Open Data, providing an invaluable endangered, endemic and their continued survival.
resource for scientists and economically valuable species
innovators liberating the world’s including the wild relatives of
1
Defined by IUCN Red List criteria of
‘Extinct in the Wild’, ‘Critically Endangered’,
‘Endangered’ and ‘Vulnerable’17
Science that helps solve
the critical challenges
facing humanity today
We published our Science Strategy in Ethiopia or yams in Madagascar, The report will provide new
in February 2015, setting our diseases and pests such as fungal evidence and perspectives on a
vision to document and understand pathogens, and chemical traits and range of key issues, and act as an
global plant and fungal diversity, properties of plants and fungi used important horizon-scan to identify
and its uses, bringing authoritative in traditional medicinal remedies, strategic research and policy
expertise to bear on the critical will help us find solutions to the priorities for the UK and overseas.
challenges facing humanity. critical challenges we face.
One in five of the world’s plants
Food security, ecosystem resilience, We will release an annual State of is threatened with extinction.
and human populations that rely the World’s Plants report, providing Many of these occur in the tropics
on a healthy environment are all an overview of the status of the where extinction continues through
in danger as a result of climate plant kingdom. Our scientists will humanity’s destruction of habitats.
change, and the loss of habitat and combine their extensive knowledge The Tropical Important Plant Areas
biodiversity. Our scientific research and expertise in an authoritative initiative will assess the highest
into plant resources such as coffee evaluation of the status of plants. priority areas for plant conservation,18
providing mapping tools for use comparative plant and fungal
across seven countries by 2020 research. This will accelerate the
to assist conservation action by discovery of new taxa, particularly
our partners. in less well-known groups, as well
as facilitating the exploration of
Our understanding of the diversity previously undiscovered properties
of plant and fungal life is constantly and uses.
growing. To better understand how
the world’s plants and fungi are
related to each other, and how
they evolved, we will complete the
Plant and Fungal Trees of Life.
This comprehensive investigation
of evolutionary relationships will
provide a unifying framework for19
Creating the
world’s leading
botanic gardens
Our two botanic gardens, at We aspire to take every visitor on We will create distinctive, high
Kew Gardens in west London an exciting journey through the quality experiences in our gardens,
and Wakehurst in the Sussex diversity of the plant and fungal to attract a broader audience from
countryside, display the diversity kingdoms, inspiring them with the across the UK and worldwide. We
of plant life from around the world importance of plants and fungi in want our botanic gardens to be a
within spectacular landscapes. their lives. We connect with visitors reason for people to visit the UK and
Kew Gardens is a UNESCO World through their love for the beauty of for British residents to make the
Heritage Site, recognising the plants. We will achieve this through journey across the country. We want
historical and contemporary continually improving the gardens, our visitors to be representative
interaction of the natural and built bringing our collections and science of society and will positively act to
landscapes with the botanical to life. ensure there are opportunities for
science conducted within them. a greater diversity of people to be
drawn into our gardens.We are developing a series of new At Wakehurst we will open up experiences to engage children more of our country estate to with plants and fungi. A new visitors, focusing on wild plants children’s garden at Kew Gardens from wild places. Through outreach will be created, providing a natural projects we will enlist millions of and exciting area for playing and people across the world to join learning. Our annual Family Science with us in unlocking why plants and Festival will uncover the amazing fungi matter. We will also engage a hidden secrets of the plant and global audience through the latest fungal kingdoms through games online opportunities, sharing our and activities. Engaging the next passion for plants and fungi in our generation is crucial to achieving ‘virtual garden’. our mission.
21
Sharing our knowledge
through education22
RBG Kew holds the accumulated ambitious plans to expand and applications for academia,
knowledge and expertise from deepen our engagement. government, industry and
250 years of world-leading consultancy. Complementing this
mycological and botanical science, RBG Kew’s School of Horticulture Masters course, we will continue
conservation and horticulture. We provides world class vocational to provide opportunities for PhD
have learned much and want to training for botanical horticulture students to partner with us, and
share that learning by providing skills. Through an active provide a series of specialist
high quality public education apprenticeship programme, the botany courses for scientists from
programmes for school groups, world famous Kew Diploma in around the world.
apprentices, higher and further Horticulture, and new modular
education students, professionals, courses in horticulture, we aim to We will not just educate
and keen amateurs alike. be the global leader in botanical professionals, and we are creating
horticulture education. a series of courses aimed at the
Our structured schools programmes keen amateur and enthusiast.
bring the curriculum to life for In 2015 we introduced the Masters Horticultural and scientific skills
school students, and our teacher in Science course in Plant and enrich the lives of everyone who
training programmes enable the Fungal Taxonomy, Diversity learns them, enabling everyone to
wonders of the plant and fungal and Conservation. This course unlock why plants and fungi matter
kingdoms to inspire students in addresses skills gaps in taxonomy for them.
school classrooms across the and systematics. We will train a
country. We host around 90,000 new generation of taxonomists
students per year, and have in cross-disciplinary skills with23
A sustainable and
dynamic organisation
RBG Kew will only be able to RBG Kew acts in a distinctive strategy. We will seek partnerships
achieve the positive global impact way that makes the most of our with individuals, businesses,
it aspires to if it is a sustainable strengths. We care deeply about governments, universities, other
and dynamic organisation. This the future of the planet, the plant charities and public sector bodies
requires us to ensure that we have and fungal kingdoms and all who share our ambitions.
talented and motivated people, people around the world who rely Through partnership and
21st century built and technological on a healthy environment. We are collaboration we will create a
infrastructure, an organisational authentic and passionate experts, world where plants and fungi are
culture that supports successful collaborating and sharing our understood, valued and conserved.
delivery, and a positive reputation knowledge to stimulate curiosity
that underpins our ability to and debate, celebrating beauty Securing our long-term financial
forge productive partnerships and encouraging a life-long love health underpins all our ambitions.
with organisations around the of plants. We cherish the diversity We will achieve this through
world. Financial health will be the of our collections, and value the our positive relationships with
foundation for all of this. diversity of our people and everyone government, building our charitable
we work with. We are ambitious supporter base and growing our
Our staff and volunteers will be and bold, with a strong desire to self-generated income, as well as
supported and cared for. We want to innovate and improve. operating as efficiently as possible.
recruit and retain the most talented We deliver public value, achieve
individuals, and will find ways to We will work internationally, our charitable purpose and provide
provide reward and recognition for across the UK and with our local enjoyable and inspiring services
their work. Without them, none of communities around Kew Gardens to our direct customers. All these
our ambitions will be delivered. and Wakehurst to achieve our elements are mutually supportive.24
Our expertise will influence the Kew Foundation is a charity that
development of policies in the UK supports RBG Kew. It is a crucial
and around the world. RBG Kew partner in raising funds for our
has been directed by Parliament to activities and for helping us build a
deliver six general functions set out network of financial supporters in
in the National Heritage Act, 19831. the UK and across the globe.
We directly support the Department
of Environment, Food and Rural RBG Kew operates in a competitive
Affairs in achieving their priorities marketplace for visitors and so we
for improving the environment and remain acutely tuned to the needs
safeguarding plant health. RBG Kew of our existing and potential future
also supports wider UK government customers. This attention to our
objectives, through our international customers stimulates innovation
collaborations, contributions and drives us to develop inspiring
to wellbeing and development products that underpin our mission
across the globe, in educating and and positively contribute to our
inspiring the next generation of financial health.
scientists, and in promoting the
UK as a destination for scientists
and tourists.
1
www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1983/47/section/2425
26
Achieving
impact
We are embarking on an ambitious period in • Number of citations from RBG Kew’s
our history. To ensure we keep on track, we scientific publications
will focus on eight priority initiatives:
• Total science income drawn down in-year
1. elivering the Science Strategy and
D
• Number of IUCN threatened species in
curating the collections
the MSB and Living collections
2. Maximising the potential of the gardens
• Total visits to Kew Gardens and
Wakehurst
Growing commercial income
3.
• Percentage of total day-time visitors who
4. reating outstanding learning and
C
feel that they have learned something as
outreach propositions
a result of their visit
5. ngaging the public and key
E
• Self-generated income
stakeholders in RBG Kew’s importance
and impact
• Number of apprentices, Diploma and
Masters students moving onto further
6. rowing philanthropic support and
G
education and employment in a relevant
Friends income
discipline
7. Achieving success through our people
• Number of school pupil visits to Kew
8. Improving the built and technological Gardens and Wakehurst
infrastructure
• Positive brand recognition score
• Fundraising income received by RBG Kew
To track our success, we will monitor our
progress against the following measures: • Total number of Friends of Kew Gardens
and Wakehurst
• Number of new plant, fungal and seed
accessions to our collections • Staff engagement score
• Number of visits to RBG Kew’s digital • Floor area of useable building space not
collections and database resources in operational use
• Number of scientific publications • Reduction in greenhouse gas emissions1
Photographs and maps displayed in this
document were kindly provided by:
Steve Lancefield
Jeff Eden
Paul Cannon
Megan Taylor
Bryn Detinger
Dafydd Davies-Hughes
Tim Utteridge
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Kew Green
Richmond
Surrey
TW9 3AE
kew.org/strategyYou can also read
