Clare Callow

Team #GlobalTreeSeedBank representing at #AETFAT 2025 in Ghana! Well done team, a successful symposium on seed conservation across Africa hosted, and wishing you an interesting few final days!

Look at this gorgeous film about our Millennium Seed Bank partners in the Caucasus...transports you straight out of the windy UK!

Interesting PhD opportunity!

Johnny and Valisoa are visiting the MSB as part of the Weston ##GlobalTreeSeedBank programme for the week, what a beautiful time of year for a visit 🙂

Excellent day learning about the Wakehurst Ecosystem Observatory with Kew Madagascar colleagues Valisoa and Johnny today. There is so much knowledge to exchange between Ankarafantsika and Wakehurst! Thanks to @kungphil.bsky.social, looking forward to what comes next...

@rbgkew.bsky.social

Drivers and impacts of global seed disperser decline - Nature Reviews Biodiversity Many plants rely on animals to disperse their seeds, but some groups of these seed-dispersing animals are facing severe declines. This Review summarizes evidence of seed disperser declines and discuss...

One huge problem with the big focus on tree planting is that a forest is not just trees - its a community of interacting plants and animals

Most trees depend on animals to disperse their seeds, but seed dispersers are dying out everywhere
www.nature.com/articles/s44...

Students take part in “Saturday Green School” sessions, using hands-on activities to build a deeper connection to their local forest

Kew Madagascar, in partnership with Madagascar National Parks and the Ministry of National Education, has launched hands-on ‘Green Saturday School’ sessions where pupils learn about biodiversity, ecosystems and sustainability.

Take a look at the impact this has had 👇
ow.ly/JKKr50VV4kc #biodiversity

Have a look at our new blog about our work in Madagascar!

Panoramic view of Madagascar’s Itremo Massif showing rolling hills, patchy forest cover, and a plume of smoke rising from the valley floor.

🌄 Ten years. 749 species. One extraordinary mountain range.

Our new checklist for Madagascar’s Itremo Massif reveals over 500 endemic plants - including 70 found nowhere else on Earth 🌍

#Conservation #Madagascar

Gleaming labs turned to rubble: scientists mourn the loss of decades of medical progress in Sudan Universities and laboratories in Khartoum are looted or in ruins, with vital research and medicines destroyed, including pioneering work on tropical diseases

Having worked with Prof Fahal at BSMS @bsmsmedschool.bsky.social for years I've seen the dedication of the Mycetoma Research Centre to ending the suffering of those living with the debilitating disease...to see all that work and effort in ruins is incredibly sad.
www.theguardian.com/global-devel...

Looking back to look ahead: the temporal dimension of conservation seed bank collections A wealth of plant material and data is stored globally in conservation seed banks. This material represents not only a repository of plant genetic resources but also an asset for nature-based solutio...

The future for conservation seed banks?

doi.org/10.1111/nph....

🌱 #Postdoc opportunity in the #Conservation and Sustainable #Horticulture Lab (myweb.fiu.edu/akhoddam/res...) within the International Center for Tropical Botany at the Kampong (environment.fiu.edu/ictb/) @fiu.bsky.social

✏️ Apply to #Job Opening ID 534749 at careers.fiu.edu by June 10, 2025.

Eucalyptus extract in funnel

🚨 Calling all undergrads!
Looking for a paid placement year in science, conservation, or curation? 🌿
Kew’s 12-month Sandwich Internships are now live - 6 incredible roles working with Kew experts and real collections 🗓️ Deadline: 11 May
🔗 careers.kew.org/stud-appr-in...

A landing page of the World Wide Wood featuring partner logos and illustrations of plants and animals

Check out our tree contributions to the new Google Arts & Culture World Wide Wood!

🌳 Guinea tree discovery
artsandculture.google.com/story/JQWBZi...

🌱 Terrific trees in the MSB
artsandculture.google.com/story/GQXBPM...

❄️ Tropical tree cryopreservation
artsandculture.google.com/story/RQWxay...

'It's gone': conservation science in Thailand's burning forest Scientist Inna Birchenko began to cry as she described the smouldering protected forest in Thailand where she was collecting samples from local trees shrouded in wildfire smoke.

'It's gone': conservation science in Thailand's burning forest -
#GlobalTreeSeedBank colleagues work covered by @france24.com

www.france24.com/en/live-news...

Saving cloud forests: How rangers are protecting these threatened ecosystems A conservation training course to enhance local skills to conserve cloud forests in the Dominican Republic

What does it take to save a cloud forest? 🌧️🌳

High in the misty peaks of the Dominican Republic, we’ve been training local forest rangers in a vital new skill: collecting & conserving seeds from the region’s most threatened tree species 🌍

Read the story 👉 www.kew.org/read-and-wat... #plantscience

The potential of seedbank digital information in plant conservation Seedbanks are vital for biodiversity conservation, but their potential remains underutilised due to a limited understanding of the intraspecific genetic diversity they hold. By leveraging digitised d...

The potential of seedbank digital information in plant conservation

doi.org/10.1002/ppp3...

Last week, despite heavy rain, the LATAM Team of the MSBP visited a population of old trees of the Endangered Magnolia hamorii in East Bahoruco, with the aim of collaborating with local partners for its protection.
@rbgkew.bsky.social
@clarecallow.bsky.social
#GlobalTreeSeedBank #MSBPartnership

Magnolia seedlings' donation to the Catheline family's farm saw the participation of the MSBP's LATAM Team, Jardín Botánico Nacional, Grupo Jaragua, Fundación Progressio y Moscoso-Puello. 🇩🇴🌱

#GlobalTreeSeedBank #MSBPartnership
@rbgkew.bsky.social
@clarecallow.bsky.social
@yolandaleon.bsky.social

The Weston #GlobalTreeSeedBank will be able to learn about, and collect seeds from this population, increasing it's chances of survival. Last day of fieldwork with my Kew Madagascar colleagues but a very successful mission!

Spent a couple of hours scrambling and fighting through the undergrowth looking for this CR Dombeya milleri in Montagne des Français, only to find it right by the side of the path 😁 thanks to the unmatched skills of this legend Richard 'Papa' Razakamalala

🌱The Weston Global Tree Seed Bank: Unlocked project is conserving the cloud forests of the Dominican Republic, involving @rbgkew.bsky.social, the National Botanic Garden of Santo Domingo, the Progressio and the Moscoso-Puello Foundations.
@clarecallow.bsky.social
#GlobalTreeSeedBank #MSBPartnership

Seed collecting days in East Bahoruco's cloud forests for the Latin America team of the MSBP & local partners, with the support of @grupojaragua.bsky.social.

@rbgkew.bsky.social
@clarecallow.bsky.social
@yolandaleon.bsky.social
@dcacostarojas.bsky.social
#GlobalTreeSeedBank #MSBPartnership

In Madagascar we are setting up a network of regional agents to monitor the phenology of some target tree species as part of the #GlobalTreeSeedBank programme. So important if we want to be able to effectively target seed collections for greater quality and genetic diversity

Azerbaijan's forests, are home to incredible biodiversity, with 480 woody plant species. As part of the Weston #GlobalTreeSeedBank we are working with the Institute of Botany in Azerbaikan to collect and conserve seeds of endangered species. Read more:

www.kew.org/sites/defaul...

Nice to see the work of the Weston #GlobalTreeSeedBank feature in the UK's National Biodiveristy Strategy and Action Plan for 2030, alongside Kew's work in Madagascar!

www.gov.uk/government/p...

Ooooh a lovely new logo for the @WestonFdn
#GlobalTreeSeedBank, how exciting! Thanks to our wonderful designer Andi, more of his work can be found here: arnoldandreas.com

The climate was hot, the rivers fast and the boat leaky but the team managed to make their first seed collection of Xylopia aethiopica. The work continues...

The Weston Global Tree Seed Bank: Unlocked West Africa team were joined in the field last week by the British High Commissioner to Sierra Leone. The team were working with the TIPAs project to look for the endemic Habropetalum diwei and other rare species from coastal savannah.

The urgent case for native trees - CIFOR-ICRAF Forests News In February of 2025, Eliane Ubalijoro, CEO of the Center for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF), will embark on a mission from the sun-drenched streets of Nairobi to ...

The most effective way to maintain tree diversity is straightforward: keep native forests standing.

When that is not possible, seed and field gene banks play a crucial role, as does the preservation of trees in farms & other human-modified landscapes.

Read more🔗 bit.ly/41kkDwI

#TreesPeoplePlanet