Year 12 in the Most Biodiverse Place on Earth!

Last week, all Year 12 Biology students spent a wonderful day at Wakehurst. They practised ecological sampling techniques in the hazel coppice woodland, and they learned about the incredible ex-situ conservation work that is taking place, including at the Millenium Seed Bank.

The seed bank now contains a collection of over 2.4 billion seeds from over 39,000 different species of flowering plants from around the world, making it the most biodiverse place on Earth. It is an incredibly important resource and, whilst sadly some of the plant species are now extinct in the wild, they are not extinct overall, as the seeds can be grown and areas re-planted.

Here are some student quotations:

'I thoroughly enjoyed the field trip and found the experience truly eye-opening, I think this trip made me become more enthusiastic about biology, from seeing the biggest seed to seeing extinct plants that brings incredible crops for future generations due to staggering climate and global warming was truly amazing.' –

Samantha

'Being able to visit Wakehurst place was an eye-opening experience and being able to visit the vault of the Millennium Seed Bank was even a once-in-a-lifetime one. The conservation walk was fruitful and relaxing with Wakehurst place’s amazing scenery. Our guide, Kim, shared a lot of information about endangered plants very clearly and helped us a lot with our identification of plants, which could get quite confusing when an area is very biologically diverse.' – Jasmine

'During the trip, I enjoyed learning about how seeds are stored in the millennium seed bank, and attempting to identify different plants during the practical. I think that it was an amazing opportunity to be able to visit Wakehurst.' – Tiffany

Mrs Borsberry