Noah’s Ark for plant species

Senior research leader Dr John Dickie poses for photographs in the Kew Millennium Seed Bank in Wakehurst, south of London. — AFP

INSIDE bomb-proof frozen vaults underneath the English countryside hides a treasure trove of 40,000 species of wild plant seeds from around the world, many of which are in danger of disappearing.

The world’s largest seed bank, located in the sleepy countryside in Ardingly, south of London, is in a race against time because two out of five plant species are threatened with extinction, according to scientists.