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Kew gardens
Category: Website
Kew Gardens in the UK is a global resource for plant and fungal knowledge.
They have one of the largest and most diverse collections of plant and fungal specimens (living and preserved) in the world.
And they also have a very comprehensive website, which among other things provides scientific data on their extensive collections of plants and seeds, as well as on numerous varieties of plants in general.
As they say "databases, scientific expertise and global partnerships gives us a leading role in facilitating access to fundamental plant and fungal information. The core purpose of our science stems from a simple but often overlooked truth: all our lives depend on plants".
They have three strategic priorities:
1. To document and conduct research into global plant and fungal diversity and its uses for humanity.
2. To curate and provide data-rich evidence from Kew’s unrivalled collections as a global asset for scientific research.
3. To disseminate our scientific knowledge of plants and fungi, maximising its impact in science, education, conservation policy and management.
These priorities enable us to curate, use, enhance, explore and share Kew’s global resource, providing robust data and a strong evidence base for our UK and global stakeholders.
Kew have also listed their 'deliverables - the strategic outputs which have governed and will govern their priorities:
- Plants of the World Online Portal
- State of the World’s Plants information
- Tropical Important Plant Areas
- The Plant and Fungal Trees of Life
- Banks of the World’s Seeds
- Useful Plants and Fungi Portal
In delivering all these they are digitising all the information they have so that it is accessible via their website. Furthermore, they are training a new generation of plant and fungus specialists who can both obtain this information, encode it and explain it to others.
An invaluable source of information to us all.