Catherine visits Millennium Seed Bank in West Sussex

11.58.00am BST (GMT +0100) Fri 11th Jun 2010

Catherine at the Millenium Seed Bank

Last week Catherine Bearder MEP visited the Millennium Seed Bank project at Wakehurst Place in West Sussex.

The Millennium Seed Bank partnership is the largest ex situ plant conservation project in the world. Their focus is on global plant life faced with the threat of extinction and plants of most use for the future. The seeds we save are conserved outside their native habitat. It targets plants and regions most at risk from climate change and the ever-increasing impact of human activities.

The Seed Bank already has 10% of the world's wild plant species and it hopes to have 25% by 2020.

After being given a tour of the Seed Bank, Catherine said, "I'm so proud that we have one of the world's most important seed conservation projects right here in South East England. The work being done here is vital for the preservation of biodiversity and we need to do whatever we can to support the project."

To visit the Millennium Seed Bank website go to http://tinyurl.com/yex8m6t.