Yesterday, the billionth seed was deposited in the Kew Garden’s Millenium Seed Bank on the occasion of International Biological Diversity Day.Currently, the Millenium Seed Bank houses seeds from over 18,000 wild plant species collected from 126 countries. Within the next three years, it is estimated that 33,000 of such species will be stored in the collection.
The theme of this year’s International Biological Diversity Day focussed on the impact of climate change. But equally important factors contributing to the threat of or extinction of wild plant species are: loss of habitat, over-exploitation and invasive alien plant species.
Today I went on a search for a better understanding of what biodiversity is and why it is of increasing importance. According to the Millenium Ecosystem Assessment, a simple definition of biodiversity is,
Biodiversity is the diversity among living organisms in terrestrial, marine, and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are part.
Plant biodiversity is essential for maintaining healthy food supplies, for medicinal reasons (with 80% of the world relying on plant remedies in traditional medicine), for fibres, fuel and building supplies.
And speaking of plant remedies in traditional medicine, an interesting fact I learned at the Kew Gardens website is that:
The common aspirin is used by 10 million people a day, curing headaches, fevers, colds and flu. It derives from the bark of a willow tree.
Since it has been raining throughout the day, I am posting a picture of a clump of blooming grape hyacinths. They seem to be enjoying this rain … keep your fingers crossed that it does not freeze here over the next few days!!