Millennium Seed Bank

This year, we celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Millennium Seed Bank at Wakehurst.

In 2000, a field in Sussex became home to a unique project. 25 years, and over 2.5 billion seeds, later we've created a haven containing seeds from more than 40,000 different plant species, in collaboration with over 275 partners in nearly 100 countries and territories.

This year we're looking back at how the Millennium Seed Bank has evolved over a quarter of a century. But we're also looking to the future. 

Today, the MSB is more important than ever as we withdraw seeds to be used in vital regeneration programmes. We're also investigating new ways to store seeds using groundbreaking cryopreservation techniques for those seeds that simply won't survive in the freezer.

"Perhaps the most significant conservation initiative ever..." - Sir David Attenborough

Where do we collect seeds from? 

The MSB is the largest, most diverse wild plant species genetic resource in the world; a fantastic result of contributions from over 100 countries since 2000.  

Our scientists and their partners collect seeds from some of the most extreme and familiar landscapes. Seed collections are stored in the country where they were collected, and a part of the collection is sent to the MSB for safety backup. 

We prioritise: 

• Plants with seeds that can tolerate being dried and frozen  
• Areas vulnerable to climate change: alpine, dryland, coastal and island ecosystems  
• Plants that are useful for livelihoods and economies 
• Plants that are relatives of to those that we eat 
• Plants that are endemic to that location (not found anywhere else)  
• Plants that are threatened in the wild.

Many of the plants grown in Wakehurst’s botanic garden started their life in this very place. Both the American Prairie and the future Silk Road Steppe feature plants grown from Millennium Seed Bank material.