WA seeds head to England for international seed bank

• WA's threatened flora seeds stored in England
• Collection duplicates seed bank at DEC's Conservation Science Centre

Seeds from a further 93 species of Western Australian plants have been sent to the Millennium Seed Bank based at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew, England.

The seeds - which bring the total of banked WA seeds to more that 1,250 - are from the Department of Environment and Conservation's (DEC) Threatened Flora Seed Centre which has been engaged with the seed bank for more than 10 years.

Environment Minister Bill Marmion said the seeds included some of the State's most threatened plant species.

"Since 2000, DEC has collaborated closely with the Millennium Seed Bank which aims to safeguard collections of 20 per cent of the world's most threatened native plants by 2020," Mr Marmion said.

"Seeds DEC sends to the seed bank are held in secure underground vaults and will duplicate collections held at DEC's new state-of-the-art storage facility at the WA Conservation Science Centre in Perth.

"These collections provide material for recovery and translocation of threatened species and are an insurance policy to ensure WA's unique plant diversity is safeguarded."

The Minister said WA had more than 3,500 WA plant species were listed as either threatened or of particular conservation significance, and DEC aimed to have as many as possible of these species in collections at the Millennium Seed Bank as well as at the Conservation Science Centre.

Fact File

• 1,250 WA native plant species now in the Millennium Seed Bank

Minister's office  - 6552 6800

Image courtesy DEC - Calytrix breviseta breviseta