1 00:00:06,960 --> 00:00:12,810 Cate Blanchett: The sound of the leaves underfoot really transported me back home 2 00:00:12,810 --> 00:00:16,470 Cate Blanchett: to Australia the very first time I stumbled upon Wakehurst, 3 00:00:16,560 --> 00:00:21,900 Cate Blanchett: and I found myself in the middle of England in a 4 00:00:21,900 --> 00:00:26,489 Cate Blanchett: glade of eucalypts and Wollemi pines. And the Wollemi for me 5 00:00:26,489 --> 00:00:30,270 Cate Blanchett: has a particular significance because they're a fossil, really, or 6 00:00:30,330 --> 00:00:34,650 Cate Blanchett: a dinosaur tree that were thought to be extinct. And 7 00:00:34,650 --> 00:00:36,780 Cate Blanchett: they were discovered in the Blue Mountains in the mid- 8 00:00:36,780 --> 00:00:40,200 Cate Blanchett: 90s. And I got married in the late 90s in the Blue 9 00:00:40,200 --> 00:00:43,800 Cate Blanchett: Mountains. And so the sound of the Wollemis and their 10 00:00:43,800 --> 00:00:47,220 Cate Blanchett: fragrance and the fact that they've been preserved here in 11 00:00:47,220 --> 00:00:50,310 Cate Blanchett: a place like Wakehurst. When I stumbled upon them the 12 00:00:50,310 --> 00:00:53,070 Cate Blanchett: first time I came here, I stood here and I 13 00:00:53,070 --> 00:00:56,850 Cate Blanchett: wept. And I wept because they could be lost, but 14 00:00:56,850 --> 00:00:59,940 Cate Blanchett: they're being protected here at Wakehurst. But also as you 15 00:00:59,940 --> 00:01:04,740 Cate Blanchett: wander through this incredibly unique and magical and precious glade, 16 00:01:05,160 --> 00:01:08,940 Cate Blanchett: it's connected to so many other species from so many 17 00:01:08,940 --> 00:01:12,360 Cate Blanchett: other parts of the world. And you realize that every 18 00:01:12,360 --> 00:01:17,309 Cate Blanchett: tree, every plant, every flower, every seed, whilst it's specific 19 00:01:17,310 --> 00:01:21,090 Cate Blanchett: to a territory, it's all interconnected. And it reminds you 20 00:01:21,090 --> 00:01:24,720 Cate Blanchett: just how precious those songlines are, and they happen here 21 00:01:24,720 --> 00:01:36,780 Cate Blanchett: at Wakehurst. It's a magical, magical place. Wakehurst is Kew's wild and beautiful 22 00:01:36,780 --> 00:01:40,140 Cate Blanchett: botanic garden set deep in the heart of the Sussex 23 00:01:40,140 --> 00:01:45,000 Cate Blanchett: countryside, a sanctuary for nature. You can lose yourself here 24 00:01:45,150 --> 00:01:48,900 Cate Blanchett: as I did in the astonishing diversity of trees, plants, 25 00:01:48,900 --> 00:01:53,400 Cate Blanchett: and grasses covering every inch of its sweeping grounds. But 26 00:01:53,400 --> 00:01:57,150 Cate Blanchett: Wakehurst is so much more than a garden and a 27 00:01:57,150 --> 00:02:02,550 Cate Blanchett: lovely day out. Beyond its beauty lies a living laboratory 28 00:02:02,790 --> 00:02:07,650 Cate Blanchett: where groundbreaking research is shaping the very future of biodiversity. 29 00:02:08,880 --> 00:02:12,149 Cate Blanchett: At the heart of Wakehurst is the Millennium Seed Bank. 30 00:02:12,750 --> 00:02:16,889 Cate Blanchett: Its vaults, hidden underneath the hollows of these grounds, house 31 00:02:16,889 --> 00:02:24,209 Cate Blanchett: almost 2. 5 billion seeds, 40,000 rare, important, and threatened 32 00:02:24,210 --> 00:02:27,899 Cate Blanchett: species from almost every country and territory across the globe. 33 00:02:28,470 --> 00:02:32,790 Cate Blanchett: And they're safely stored, ex situ, protected outside their natural 34 00:02:32,790 --> 00:02:36,900 Cate Blanchett: habitat. It's a modern Noah's Ark, and it's the largest 35 00:02:36,900 --> 00:02:41,400 Cate Blanchett: repository of wild seeds on earth and the most biodiverse 36 00:02:41,400 --> 00:02:46,230 Cate Blanchett: place on our planet. I'm Cate Blanchett, and that experience 37 00:02:46,230 --> 00:02:48,960 Cate Blanchett: that I had in the Wollemi pines was the catalyst 38 00:02:49,200 --> 00:02:52,350 Cate Blanchett: that led me on a journey to becoming Kew's ambassador 39 00:02:52,350 --> 00:02:55,560 Cate Blanchett: for Wakehurst and a champion of the Millennium Seed Bank. 40 00:02:56,310 --> 00:02:58,350 Cate Blanchett: And on this journey, I've learned of the scope of 41 00:02:58,350 --> 00:03:01,290 Cate Blanchett: the work that Wakehurst is doing to preserve the future 42 00:03:01,380 --> 00:03:05,910 Cate Blanchett: of our planet because there's no way around it. We 43 00:03:05,910 --> 00:03:08,730 Cate Blanchett: have to face the fact that our planet is in 44 00:03:08,730 --> 00:03:15,510 Cate Blanchett: crisis. Climate change, deforestation, the relentless unsustainable use of our 45 00:03:15,510 --> 00:03:20,100 Cate Blanchett: natural resources, species disappearing at a pace unprecedented in human 46 00:03:20,100 --> 00:03:27,000 Cate Blanchett: history. Like most people, some days I despair, but the 47 00:03:27,000 --> 00:03:32,730 Cate Blanchett: work being done at Wakehurst gives me hope. The Millennium 48 00:03:32,730 --> 00:03:36,780 Cate Blanchett: Seed Bank holds within its vaults tools to restore habitats, 49 00:03:37,050 --> 00:03:40,860 Cate Blanchett: to bring species back from the brink, to discover how little- 50 00:03:40,860 --> 00:03:45,360 Cate Blanchett: known plants might become our future foods, our medicines, our 51 00:03:45,360 --> 00:03:50,220 Cate Blanchett: materials. In this series we'll go behind the scenes of 52 00:03:50,220 --> 00:03:54,750 Cate Blanchett: this extraordinary partnership to understand its humble roots, the work 53 00:03:54,750 --> 00:03:57,720 Cate Blanchett: it's doing now, and the impact it could have on 54 00:03:57,720 --> 00:04:02,160 Cate Blanchett: our future. And it's a true partnership, an international collaboration 55 00:04:02,160 --> 00:04:07,140 Cate Blanchett: between visionary scientists and devoted collectors, working together on an 56 00:04:07,140 --> 00:04:13,410 Cate Blanchett: insurance policy for our planet. Life begins with seeds, and 57 00:04:13,410 --> 00:04:17,640 Cate Blanchett: so does our best chance to save it. Welcome to 58 00:04:17,640 --> 00:04:29,850 Cate Blanchett: Unearthed: The Need for Seeds, episode one, the past. This 59 00:04:29,850 --> 00:04:33,630 Cate Blanchett: year marks the 25th anniversary of the Millennium Seed Bank, 60 00:04:33,630 --> 00:04:38,190 Cate Blanchett: or the MSB. It's now a world- leading initiative at 61 00:04:38,190 --> 00:04:42,120 Cate Blanchett: the cutting edge of science, but it wasn't quite so cutting- 62 00:04:42,120 --> 00:04:47,130 Cate Blanchett: edge in the beginning. Every great story starts somewhere, and 63 00:04:47,130 --> 00:04:51,600 Cate Blanchett: ours begins over a quarter of a century ago. In 64 00:04:51,600 --> 00:04:55,229 Cate Blanchett: this chapter, we'll meet the visionary people who saw the 65 00:04:55,230 --> 00:04:56,070 Cate Blanchett: future coming. 66 00:04:56,700 --> 00:04:59,790 Roger Smith: We sneaked onto the site and looked in the hole, 67 00:05:00,600 --> 00:05:03,720 Roger Smith: and that is the point at which I said to Simon, " 68 00:05:03,750 --> 00:05:07,529 Roger Smith: What have we started?" And from there on, there is 69 00:05:07,529 --> 00:05:09,960 Roger Smith: only one way, which is out and up. 70 00:05:11,730 --> 00:05:15,029 Cate Blanchett: And we'll understand how that vision is already bearing fruit. 71 00:05:15,270 --> 00:05:18,089 Dan Duval: 100s of plants have been introduced working with the community, 72 00:05:18,150 --> 00:05:20,370 Dan Duval: but this never would've happened if we didn't bank this in 73 00:05:20,430 --> 00:05:22,469 Dan Duval: 2006 with MSB. 74 00:05:22,740 --> 00:05:25,410 Cate Blanchett: And we'll hear from those continuing to build on the 75 00:05:25,410 --> 00:05:28,650 Cate Blanchett: legacy who are just as passionate about it as the 76 00:05:28,650 --> 00:05:29,850 Cate Blanchett: Seed Bank's founders. 77 00:05:30,660 --> 00:05:33,990 Dr. Chris Cockel: Those wild relative seeds are now at these international crop- 78 00:05:33,990 --> 00:05:37,290 Dr. Chris Cockel: breeding gene banks with the aim of making our domesticated 79 00:05:37,290 --> 00:05:40,200 Dr. Chris Cockel: crops more able to withstand the pressures of climate change 80 00:05:40,230 --> 00:05:42,240 Dr. Chris Cockel: and various pests and diseases that they might be faced 81 00:05:42,240 --> 00:05:42,900 Dr. Chris Cockel: with in the future. 82 00:05:43,500 --> 00:05:46,380 Cate Blanchett: But let's begin in a place that represents both the 83 00:05:46,380 --> 00:05:54,000 Cate Blanchett: past and the present of this story. While I'm standing 84 00:05:54,300 --> 00:05:58,350 Cate Blanchett: in an American prairie, it's full of native plants, and 85 00:05:58,350 --> 00:06:02,250 Cate Blanchett: I can see rattlesnake master, which is a very tall, sort 86 00:06:02,250 --> 00:06:07,860 Cate Blanchett: of beautiful silvery thistle, and this foxglove, and there's beardtongue, and there's black- 87 00:06:07,860 --> 00:06:11,070 Cate Blanchett: eyed Susans, which I absolutely love. And I mean some 88 00:06:11,070 --> 00:06:13,050 Cate Blanchett: of these grasses and plants are as tall as my 89 00:06:13,050 --> 00:06:18,510 Cate Blanchett: shoulders. It's an American prairie, but I'm not in America. 90 00:06:18,839 --> 00:06:22,140 Cate Blanchett: I am in the heart of Sussex in Wakehurst. And 91 00:06:22,140 --> 00:06:25,380 Cate Blanchett: this landscape is only possible really because of the amazing 92 00:06:25,380 --> 00:06:29,310 Cate Blanchett: work that the Millennium Seed Bank is doing, and more 93 00:06:29,310 --> 00:06:32,580 Cate Blanchett: incongruous perhaps than an American prairie in East Sussex is 94 00:06:32,640 --> 00:06:37,350 Cate Blanchett: the juxtaposition of this prairie with a quintessential English mansion 95 00:06:37,350 --> 00:06:39,900 Cate Blanchett: just ahead. I'm here with Dr. Eleanor Brehman, who's the 96 00:06:39,900 --> 00:06:42,690 Cate Blanchett: senior research leader in seed conservation. 97 00:06:42,810 --> 00:06:43,920 Dr Eleanor Brehman: Hi, welcome to Wakehurst. 98 00:06:43,950 --> 00:06:46,589 Cate Blanchett: Thank you. I mean, just in the distance, there is 99 00:06:46,589 --> 00:06:49,800 Cate Blanchett: a grade one Elizabethan mansion and that was built around 1570. 100 00:06:49,920 --> 00:06:51,029 Dr Eleanor Brehman: 1500s. 101 00:06:51,240 --> 00:06:51,600 Cate Blanchett: Yeah. 102 00:06:51,779 --> 00:06:51,960 Dr Eleanor Brehman: Yeah. 103 00:06:51,960 --> 00:06:54,660 Cate Blanchett: And it's old stone. It's almost like something out of 104 00:06:54,660 --> 00:06:57,480 Cate Blanchett: a storybook. So it's very old, but it feels really 105 00:06:57,480 --> 00:07:01,409 Cate Blanchett: at odds with this experimental landscape that we are standing 106 00:07:01,410 --> 00:07:04,409 Cate Blanchett: in. This wild landscape here at Wakehurst. Why did you 107 00:07:04,410 --> 00:07:05,460 Cate Blanchett: want to meet me here? 108 00:07:05,730 --> 00:07:09,210 Dr Eleanor Brehman: Well, because this is where seed banking started at Wakehurst. 109 00:07:09,540 --> 00:07:13,500 Dr Eleanor Brehman: So the Seed Physiology department moved down from Kew in the 110 00:07:13,500 --> 00:07:17,520 Dr Eleanor Brehman: 70s. We were based in the mansion originally and actually 111 00:07:17,520 --> 00:07:20,880 Dr Eleanor Brehman: had a big walk- in freezer, like one of those 112 00:07:20,880 --> 00:07:24,241 Dr Eleanor Brehman: butcher's freezers in the chapel. That was the original seed bank. 113 00:07:24,241 --> 00:07:25,770 Cate Blanchett: The seed bank was in the chapel? 114 00:07:26,100 --> 00:07:28,830 Dr Eleanor Brehman: And the physiology team were working up in Lady Price's 115 00:07:28,830 --> 00:07:32,010 Dr Eleanor Brehman: bedroom, and they were doing some work on one of 116 00:07:32,010 --> 00:07:34,200 Dr Eleanor Brehman: the mahogany desks once, and when she came around, and 117 00:07:34,200 --> 00:07:37,620 Dr Eleanor Brehman: she was really not very happy that science was being 118 00:07:37,620 --> 00:07:42,000 Dr Eleanor Brehman: undertaken on this heirloom of the family. So I think 119 00:07:42,000 --> 00:07:43,800 Dr Eleanor Brehman: they got some lab benches in after that. 120 00:07:44,280 --> 00:07:47,670 Cate Blanchett: So given that you were able to store seeds in 121 00:07:47,670 --> 00:07:51,420 Cate Blanchett: a butcher's freezer in the mansion, that's not very high- 122 00:07:51,420 --> 00:07:54,360 Cate Blanchett: tech. I mean, obviously the modern building that houses the 123 00:07:54,360 --> 00:07:58,080 Cate Blanchett: seed bank now, for the past 25 years, it's got 124 00:07:58,080 --> 00:08:02,010 Cate Blanchett: a lot more sophisticated freezers than, say, there or I 125 00:08:02,010 --> 00:08:04,530 Cate Blanchett: would have at home. What are the facilities like there? 126 00:08:04,710 --> 00:08:05,940 Cate Blanchett: How would you describe them? 127 00:08:06,390 --> 00:08:07,920 Dr Eleanor Brehman: Yeah, I think when we were in the mansion, it 128 00:08:07,920 --> 00:08:10,200 Dr Eleanor Brehman: was more in an experimental phase and we were trying 129 00:08:10,200 --> 00:08:14,580 Dr Eleanor Brehman: to understand the seed biology that enables seeds to be 130 00:08:14,580 --> 00:08:17,790 Dr Eleanor Brehman: dried and then stored at sub- zero temperatures to extend 131 00:08:17,790 --> 00:08:20,670 Dr Eleanor Brehman: their lifespan. And we really wanted to know if that 132 00:08:20,670 --> 00:08:22,620 Dr Eleanor Brehman: was going to work for wild plant species. Because it 133 00:08:22,620 --> 00:08:25,125 Dr Eleanor Brehman: had already been done for agriculture, but they've quite uniform 134 00:08:25,125 --> 00:08:29,520 Dr Eleanor Brehman: seeds. So it was that experimental stage, but then we'd 135 00:08:29,520 --> 00:08:33,270 Dr Eleanor Brehman: proved the concept and in the 90s collected the UK 136 00:08:33,270 --> 00:08:35,309 Dr Eleanor Brehman: flora, so that we could show that it really worked 137 00:08:35,309 --> 00:08:39,000 Dr Eleanor Brehman: before going international. And the point of our new facilities, 138 00:08:39,000 --> 00:08:42,870 Dr Eleanor Brehman: well now 25 years old, was the scale. We needed 139 00:08:42,870 --> 00:08:46,140 Dr Eleanor Brehman: to scale up. So the technology still remained relatively simple. 140 00:08:46,140 --> 00:08:48,480 Dr Eleanor Brehman: We're drying, and we're putting in an airtight container and 141 00:08:48,480 --> 00:08:50,729 Dr Eleanor Brehman: we're putting in a freezer. So yes, the freezers are 142 00:08:50,730 --> 00:08:53,730 Dr Eleanor Brehman: bigger, they've got roller shelving so we can maximize the 143 00:08:53,730 --> 00:08:56,070 Dr Eleanor Brehman: space usage, but at the end of the day, it's 144 00:08:56,070 --> 00:08:59,939 Dr Eleanor Brehman: just a - 20 freezer, but it's conserving all this biodiversity 145 00:08:59,940 --> 00:09:00,809 Dr Eleanor Brehman: from around the world. 146 00:09:01,170 --> 00:09:04,679 Cate Blanchett: I mean, people obviously, if they're interested in building a 147 00:09:04,679 --> 00:09:08,939 Cate Blanchett: garden, they buy seeds at their local gardening store. But 148 00:09:08,940 --> 00:09:12,870 Cate Blanchett: why do you think it's so important at this juncture 149 00:09:13,020 --> 00:09:16,320 Cate Blanchett: in human history that we gather and preserve seeds? 150 00:09:16,620 --> 00:09:21,150 Dr Eleanor Brehman: 45% of all wild plants are faced with extinction. So 151 00:09:21,210 --> 00:09:24,870 Dr Eleanor Brehman: the race is on, really, to conserve seeds from those 152 00:09:24,870 --> 00:09:27,450 Dr Eleanor Brehman: species before it's too late and we've lost them forever. 153 00:09:28,260 --> 00:09:33,000 Dr Eleanor Brehman: Because you don't know what you're losing until it's gone. 154 00:09:33,000 --> 00:09:35,640 Dr Eleanor Brehman: Nobody's worked on these; we don't know whether that's the 155 00:09:35,640 --> 00:09:39,839 Dr Eleanor Brehman: next medicine, whether it could improve our sustainable agriculture, what 156 00:09:39,840 --> 00:09:42,929 Dr Eleanor Brehman: properties it has that we might find useful and might 157 00:09:42,929 --> 00:09:46,620 Dr Eleanor Brehman: provide ecosystem services that we're depending on and we don't 158 00:09:46,620 --> 00:09:47,370 Dr Eleanor Brehman: even realize. 159 00:09:47,520 --> 00:09:51,420 Cate Blanchett: And the way those plants and species have an interdependent culture. 160 00:09:51,480 --> 00:09:53,970 Dr Eleanor Brehman: Yeah. And interact with each other to form that ecosystem. 161 00:09:54,179 --> 00:09:58,290 Cate Blanchett: So when you say that 45% of plant species are 162 00:09:58,290 --> 00:10:02,280 Cate Blanchett: facing extinction, that isn't just reflective of the UK, is it? 163 00:10:02,280 --> 00:10:02,281 Dr Eleanor Brehman: No. 164 00:10:02,281 --> 00:10:03,390 Cate Blanchett: I mean, it's a global figure, right? 165 00:10:03,390 --> 00:10:07,650 Dr Eleanor Brehman: Yeah. That's plants across the world. So in all environments, 166 00:10:07,650 --> 00:10:10,650 Dr Eleanor Brehman: from pole to pole, from sea level to the tops 167 00:10:10,650 --> 00:10:14,250 Dr Eleanor Brehman: of mountains, plants are feeling the pressure of human land 168 00:10:14,250 --> 00:10:20,340 Dr Eleanor Brehman: use change, overexploitation, invasive species, pollution, and then climate change 169 00:10:20,340 --> 00:10:23,880 Dr Eleanor Brehman: as well. So it's not a very friendly environment for 170 00:10:23,880 --> 00:10:25,079 Dr Eleanor Brehman: a lot of our plants anymore. 171 00:10:25,470 --> 00:10:27,780 Cate Blanchett: I don't know whether it's that I've specifically noticed that 172 00:10:27,780 --> 00:10:30,840 Cate Blanchett: there's fewer plants around, but I have noticed, particularly in 173 00:10:30,840 --> 00:10:33,150 Cate Blanchett: summer, when you go for a long drive, there are 174 00:10:33,150 --> 00:10:34,679 Cate Blanchett: not as many bugs- 175 00:10:35,010 --> 00:10:35,011 Dr Eleanor Brehman: No. 176 00:10:35,011 --> 00:10:36,030 Cate Blanchett: - On the windshield. 177 00:10:36,030 --> 00:10:36,209 Dr Eleanor Brehman: No. 178 00:10:36,210 --> 00:10:39,480 Cate Blanchett: There's fewer butterflies, fewer bees when you're out in nature, 179 00:10:39,480 --> 00:10:41,910 Cate Blanchett: not here in the American prairie, of course, but is 180 00:10:41,910 --> 00:10:44,610 Cate Blanchett: that a direct effect of that 45% loss? 181 00:10:45,150 --> 00:10:47,970 Dr Eleanor Brehman: Yeah, I mean, we've seen a dramatic decline in natural 182 00:10:47,970 --> 00:10:51,689 Dr Eleanor Brehman: habitats all around the world. I mean, the human population 183 00:10:51,690 --> 00:10:55,140 Dr Eleanor Brehman: is expanding, people need places to live, we need to 184 00:10:55,140 --> 00:10:57,780 Dr Eleanor Brehman: grow food to eat. So those things have to happen, 185 00:10:57,780 --> 00:10:59,850 Dr Eleanor Brehman: but we need to start doing those things in a 186 00:10:59,850 --> 00:11:03,210 Dr Eleanor Brehman: smarter way and realizing that we have to do those 187 00:11:03,210 --> 00:11:06,390 Dr Eleanor Brehman: things in harmony with nature rather than seeing nature as 188 00:11:06,390 --> 00:11:09,630 Dr Eleanor Brehman: a never- ending resource that will just keep being there 189 00:11:09,630 --> 00:11:12,630 Dr Eleanor Brehman: or keep bouncing back. We actually need to be supporting 190 00:11:12,750 --> 00:11:15,540 Dr Eleanor Brehman: nature. And one of the ways we're doing that is 191 00:11:15,540 --> 00:11:18,360 Dr Eleanor Brehman: through seed banking so that we're buying time for these 192 00:11:18,360 --> 00:11:21,750 Dr Eleanor Brehman: species, which are feeling a load of pressures in their 193 00:11:21,750 --> 00:11:26,130 Dr Eleanor Brehman: natural environments. And we have had partners who go out 194 00:11:26,130 --> 00:11:29,070 Dr Eleanor Brehman: on a collecting trip, and something that they rescued earlier 195 00:11:29,070 --> 00:11:32,189 Dr Eleanor Brehman: in the year, they go back, and it's gone. They 196 00:11:32,190 --> 00:11:35,130 Dr Eleanor Brehman: can't make that collection, and that happens more and more 197 00:11:35,130 --> 00:11:40,230 Dr Eleanor Brehman: frequently, unfortunately. We do have wonderful moments as well where 198 00:11:40,230 --> 00:11:43,470 Dr Eleanor Brehman: they discover plants that have never been described by science. 199 00:11:43,470 --> 00:11:45,750 Dr Eleanor Brehman: So it can work both ways, and I think that's 200 00:11:45,750 --> 00:11:50,130 Dr Eleanor Brehman: the beauty of seed banking and this collaborative work around 201 00:11:50,130 --> 00:11:53,490 Dr Eleanor Brehman: the world is, its discovery. There's always something new to 202 00:11:53,490 --> 00:11:57,630 Dr Eleanor Brehman: learn, and these experts are just giving all of their 203 00:11:57,630 --> 00:12:02,280 Dr Eleanor Brehman: time and their knowledge and their passion to making sure that 204 00:12:02,280 --> 00:12:05,250 Dr Eleanor Brehman: we have the best possible outcomes for plants going forward 205 00:12:05,250 --> 00:12:05,790 Dr Eleanor Brehman: as we can. 206 00:12:06,120 --> 00:12:10,319 Cate Blanchett: The Millennium Seed Bank is the largest ex situ wild 207 00:12:10,320 --> 00:12:14,040 Cate Blanchett: plant conservation program in the world. When you say " wild 208 00:12:14,040 --> 00:12:16,410 Cate Blanchett: seeds," what do you actually mean? 209 00:12:16,500 --> 00:12:19,320 Dr Eleanor Brehman: Yeah, so it means that they're seeds that have been 210 00:12:19,320 --> 00:12:23,100 Dr Eleanor Brehman: collected from their natural habitat, so where they would normally 211 00:12:23,100 --> 00:12:25,199 Dr Eleanor Brehman: grow. So this is why we work with partners all 212 00:12:25,200 --> 00:12:28,020 Dr Eleanor Brehman: around the world to help them conserve their native floras. 213 00:12:28,080 --> 00:12:33,330 Dr Eleanor Brehman: And that's very different to going to an agricultural setting 214 00:12:33,330 --> 00:12:36,300 Dr Eleanor Brehman: and taking cultivated material, which are the seeds that you'd 215 00:12:36,300 --> 00:12:39,120 Dr Eleanor Brehman: buy in the packets in the garden shop. And it also 216 00:12:39,120 --> 00:12:41,820 Dr Eleanor Brehman: means that you are conserving a huge amount of diversity 217 00:12:41,820 --> 00:12:45,809 Dr Eleanor Brehman: because these plants in their natural habitats are adapting to 218 00:12:45,809 --> 00:12:49,829 Dr Eleanor Brehman: thrive and survive in these changing conditions. And so by 219 00:12:49,920 --> 00:12:55,079 Dr Eleanor Brehman: capturing seeds from populations across that species' natural range, you 220 00:12:55,080 --> 00:12:57,990 Dr Eleanor Brehman: can capture all of this diversity. And the amazing thing 221 00:12:57,990 --> 00:13:00,240 Dr Eleanor Brehman: about seed banking is that you can store all of that in a 222 00:13:00,240 --> 00:13:03,689 Dr Eleanor Brehman: really small space, and for a relatively low cost. I 223 00:13:03,690 --> 00:13:06,420 Dr Eleanor Brehman: mean, it's a relatively low- tech, simple solution to a 224 00:13:06,420 --> 00:13:07,380 Dr Eleanor Brehman: really big problem. 225 00:13:08,040 --> 00:13:11,340 Cate Blanchett: How much has the mission changed in that 25 years? 226 00:13:11,550 --> 00:13:13,860 Cate Blanchett: It was so state-of- the- art and cutting- edge, but 227 00:13:13,860 --> 00:13:17,370 Cate Blanchett: also the future probably seemed much further away than it 228 00:13:17,370 --> 00:13:19,110 Cate Blanchett: does here and now. 229 00:13:19,710 --> 00:13:21,690 Dr Eleanor Brehman: I mean, when it first opened, there was more of 230 00:13:21,690 --> 00:13:25,110 Dr Eleanor Brehman: an acquisition phase. We were just trying to get plants 231 00:13:25,470 --> 00:13:28,050 Dr Eleanor Brehman: to be prevented from extinction, get the seeds into the 232 00:13:28,050 --> 00:13:31,050 Dr Eleanor Brehman: bank, and know they were safe. But then as we 233 00:13:31,050 --> 00:13:33,240 Dr Eleanor Brehman: got more and more species in, that allowed us to 234 00:13:33,240 --> 00:13:37,290 Dr Eleanor Brehman: understand more and more plants and their ecology, and actually this 235 00:13:37,290 --> 00:13:39,689 Dr Eleanor Brehman: information that we get through germinating the seed and the 236 00:13:39,690 --> 00:13:42,870 Dr Eleanor Brehman: data that we're amassing from the field when we collect 237 00:13:42,870 --> 00:13:46,350 Dr Eleanor Brehman: the seeds and all of the processing is really, really important 238 00:13:46,350 --> 00:13:51,090 Dr Eleanor Brehman: for restoration. And we are then using these seeds. You know it is a bank; 239 00:13:51,090 --> 00:13:53,550 Dr Eleanor Brehman: you make deposits and withdrawals, right? So the seeds are 240 00:13:53,550 --> 00:13:55,440 Dr Eleanor Brehman: coming back out of the bank. It's not their end 241 00:13:55,440 --> 00:13:59,850 Dr Eleanor Brehman: resting place. And the real focus is on supporting active 242 00:13:59,880 --> 00:14:05,309 Dr Eleanor Brehman: ecological restoration programs in spaces where the environment is stable 243 00:14:05,309 --> 00:14:07,679 Dr Eleanor Brehman: enough to be putting these rare and threatened plants back 244 00:14:07,679 --> 00:14:11,070 Dr Eleanor Brehman: into the landscape and that they will still be there 245 00:14:11,070 --> 00:14:12,420 Dr Eleanor Brehman: in 10, 20 years' time. 246 00:14:12,720 --> 00:14:14,340 Cate Blanchett: The times where I've been in the seed bank, there's 247 00:14:14,340 --> 00:14:18,089 Cate Blanchett: invariably been students and researchers from all around the world. 248 00:14:18,090 --> 00:14:19,680 Cate Blanchett: Is it important for them to come here? 249 00:14:19,860 --> 00:14:22,260 Dr Eleanor Brehman: We have really close relationships with our partners, and actually 250 00:14:22,260 --> 00:14:24,420 Dr Eleanor Brehman: Australia's a really good case in point because we've been 251 00:14:24,420 --> 00:14:27,870 Dr Eleanor Brehman: working with them since 2000. During that time we've helped 252 00:14:27,870 --> 00:14:30,750 Dr Eleanor Brehman: develop a wild plant seed bank in every state and 253 00:14:30,750 --> 00:14:34,020 Dr Eleanor Brehman: territory in Australia, and they've now formed their own Australian 254 00:14:34,020 --> 00:14:37,020 Dr Eleanor Brehman: seed bank partnership. So that's kind of the journey that 255 00:14:37,020 --> 00:14:38,790 Dr Eleanor Brehman: we want to go on with all of our partners. 256 00:14:39,150 --> 00:14:42,570 Dr Eleanor Brehman: We provide training, we provide resources. Initially we might provide 257 00:14:42,630 --> 00:14:44,400 Dr Eleanor Brehman: some funding to get them out to the field and 258 00:14:44,400 --> 00:14:48,120 Dr Eleanor Brehman: make those initial collections and help them start, but the 259 00:14:48,120 --> 00:14:50,970 Dr Eleanor Brehman: idea is for them all to stand on their own and be 260 00:14:51,630 --> 00:14:54,540 Dr Eleanor Brehman: organizations who can manage their own floras. 261 00:14:55,140 --> 00:14:57,930 Cate Blanchett: We'll come back to Australia later, but we're having this 262 00:14:57,930 --> 00:15:01,140 Cate Blanchett: conversation, as I mentioned earlier, in the middle of an 263 00:15:01,140 --> 00:15:06,180 Cate Blanchett: American prairie landscape in the middle of Sussex. It's a 264 00:15:06,180 --> 00:15:08,489 Cate Blanchett: landscape that's made up of seeds that are collected from 265 00:15:08,490 --> 00:15:11,370 Cate Blanchett: the USA and brought back here to Wakehurst. 266 00:15:11,730 --> 00:15:13,739 Dr Eleanor Brehman: The horticultural team went out to the states and made 267 00:15:13,740 --> 00:15:17,040 Dr Eleanor Brehman: collections from existing prairies over there so that we had 268 00:15:17,040 --> 00:15:19,920 Dr Eleanor Brehman: that authentic seed mix to put into the prairie land 269 00:15:19,920 --> 00:15:23,580 Dr Eleanor Brehman: here. But we've also got those rare, threatened, endangered species 270 00:15:23,910 --> 00:15:26,670 Dr Eleanor Brehman: which we collected. We've got in the seed bank, grew 271 00:15:26,670 --> 00:15:30,060 Dr Eleanor Brehman: on, and then have mixed in to this kind of 272 00:15:30,060 --> 00:15:34,710 Dr Eleanor Brehman: mosaic of planting here. So that visitors could engage with 273 00:15:34,710 --> 00:15:38,460 Dr Eleanor Brehman: that story and understand that plants in all corners of 274 00:15:38,460 --> 00:15:41,490 Dr Eleanor Brehman: the world are under threat, but they're beautiful and create 275 00:15:41,490 --> 00:15:44,760 Dr Eleanor Brehman: these amazing landscapes that we want to be in and 276 00:15:45,300 --> 00:15:47,880 Dr Eleanor Brehman: just make us feel happier. And then it has the 277 00:15:47,880 --> 00:15:49,590 Dr Eleanor Brehman: links to the seed bank as well, and I love 278 00:15:49,590 --> 00:15:53,400 Dr Eleanor Brehman: that about Wakehurst is that there's so much collaboration between 279 00:15:53,400 --> 00:15:56,790 Dr Eleanor Brehman: the seed bank and what's going on in the landscape. 280 00:15:56,850 --> 00:15:59,910 Dr Eleanor Brehman: It's more than 50% of the plants in the Wakehurst landscape 281 00:16:00,030 --> 00:16:03,450 Dr Eleanor Brehman: have been grown from seed that have been collected from 282 00:16:03,450 --> 00:16:04,380 Dr Eleanor Brehman: all around the world. 283 00:16:06,030 --> 00:16:09,390 Cate Blanchett: Now a seed holds so much potential. But there are 284 00:16:09,390 --> 00:16:12,330 Cate Blanchett: also many different types of seeds, and as we've heard, 285 00:16:12,450 --> 00:16:15,060 Cate Blanchett: what sets the Millennium Seed Bank apart is the fact 286 00:16:15,060 --> 00:16:18,810 Cate Blanchett: that every single seed banked here is wild. 287 00:16:19,080 --> 00:16:20,850 Dr. Chris Cockel: I guess the unique selling point of the Millennium Seed 288 00:16:20,850 --> 00:16:23,940 Dr. Chris Cockel: Bank is that we're a wild species seed bank. So 289 00:16:24,150 --> 00:16:27,420 Dr. Chris Cockel: in general, we don't bank domesticated crop seeds. Our role 290 00:16:27,420 --> 00:16:29,880 Dr. Chris Cockel: is to collect the wild and then make them available. 291 00:16:29,910 --> 00:16:32,070 Dr. Chris Cockel: So that was what the project was all about, was 292 00:16:32,070 --> 00:16:33,870 Dr. Chris Cockel: making those seeds available for breeders. 293 00:16:34,170 --> 00:16:38,100 Cate Blanchett: This is Dr. Chris Cockel. He's now the UK's conservation 294 00:16:38,100 --> 00:16:42,420 Cate Blanchett: projects coordinator at MSB. But before that, he headed up 295 00:16:42,420 --> 00:16:45,840 Cate Blanchett: a project that focused on collecting the wild relatives of 296 00:16:45,840 --> 00:16:48,570 Cate Blanchett: crops that you and I would think of as food. 297 00:16:49,500 --> 00:16:53,040 Cate Blanchett: Now for many of those species, there's very little family 298 00:16:53,040 --> 00:16:54,450 Cate Blanchett: resemblance that remains. 299 00:16:55,620 --> 00:16:59,400 Dr. Chris Cockel: So what we have here are some wild banana seeds. 300 00:17:00,300 --> 00:17:04,050 Dr. Chris Cockel: They're quite large, half a centimeter across perhaps, and the 301 00:17:04,050 --> 00:17:06,060 Dr. Chris Cockel: banana those came from were very small. So there's a 302 00:17:06,060 --> 00:17:10,530 Dr. Chris Cockel: misconception, I guess, that bananas come from the Caribbean. They 303 00:17:10,530 --> 00:17:14,609 Dr. Chris Cockel: were collected in Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand. So what we have 304 00:17:14,609 --> 00:17:19,890 Dr. Chris Cockel: here is a wild banana plant from Vietnam, and this 305 00:17:19,890 --> 00:17:23,580 Dr. Chris Cockel: was grown from seed, from 2016, and the seeds came 306 00:17:23,580 --> 00:17:27,300 Dr. Chris Cockel: from one of our partners for the Adapting Agriculture to 307 00:17:27,300 --> 00:17:31,409 Dr. Chris Cockel: Climate Change project. The main difference you'll see between a 308 00:17:31,410 --> 00:17:34,590 Dr. Chris Cockel: wild banana plant and a cultivated banana plant is the 309 00:17:34,590 --> 00:17:39,389 Dr. Chris Cockel: fruit actually. Part of the domestication process, including with bananas, 310 00:17:39,450 --> 00:17:43,950 Dr. Chris Cockel: is that humans have over millennia created fruit and vegetables 311 00:17:43,950 --> 00:17:46,830 Dr. Chris Cockel: that are palatable, that are edible, that are high- yielding. 312 00:17:46,920 --> 00:17:49,740 Dr. Chris Cockel: So in the case of the wild banana plant, the 313 00:17:49,740 --> 00:17:53,129 Dr. Chris Cockel: fruit is much smaller and it's full of seeds, whereas 314 00:17:53,190 --> 00:17:57,540 Dr. Chris Cockel: the domesticated Cavendish banana, the ones from the supermarket, it 315 00:17:57,540 --> 00:18:00,480 Dr. Chris Cockel: doesn't have seeds in it because they're all generated from clones. 316 00:18:00,750 --> 00:18:02,459 Dr. Chris Cockel: And what you see in the center of the Cavendish 317 00:18:02,460 --> 00:18:04,980 Dr. Chris Cockel: banana is just the remnant of seeds, and also there's 318 00:18:04,980 --> 00:18:06,629 Dr. Chris Cockel: a lot of flesh that you can eat, whereas in 319 00:18:06,630 --> 00:18:09,119 Dr. Chris Cockel: the wild banana, there's virtually nothing that you would think 320 00:18:09,119 --> 00:18:11,070 Dr. Chris Cockel: you would want to eat in there. These plants are 321 00:18:11,070 --> 00:18:15,750 Dr. Chris Cockel: not genetically modified. They are the product of, as I 322 00:18:15,750 --> 00:18:19,710 Dr. Chris Cockel: say, millennia of traditional breeding methods where farmers have taken 323 00:18:19,800 --> 00:18:23,190 Dr. Chris Cockel: different varieties and crossed them with one another to bring 324 00:18:23,190 --> 00:18:26,250 Dr. Chris Cockel: out the traits that we want in terms of yield 325 00:18:26,310 --> 00:18:31,590 Dr. Chris Cockel: and size, taste. There's something called the genetic bottleneck, where 326 00:18:31,590 --> 00:18:34,590 Dr. Chris Cockel: you've come from a very broad genetic base to a 327 00:18:34,590 --> 00:18:37,859 Dr. Chris Cockel: very narrow genetic base, and this makes the domesticated crops 328 00:18:38,190 --> 00:18:41,129 Dr. Chris Cockel: vulnerable to pests and diseases and to changes in climate. 329 00:18:42,000 --> 00:18:46,320 Cate Blanchett: It's taken human ingenuity to evolve edible fruits and vegetables 330 00:18:46,320 --> 00:18:49,859 Cate Blanchett: as we know and consume them today, but the same 331 00:18:49,859 --> 00:18:54,450 Cate Blanchett: processes that increase their attractiveness to us as food also 332 00:18:54,450 --> 00:18:59,670 Cate Blanchett: makes them vulnerable to an increasingly threatening future. However, there 333 00:18:59,670 --> 00:19:03,570 Cate Blanchett: are potential solutions to that problem within the wider family tree. 334 00:19:04,950 --> 00:19:07,170 Dr. Chris Cockel: There are also still the wild relatives that are out 335 00:19:07,290 --> 00:19:09,660 Dr. Chris Cockel: in the wild, and they contain a lot of adaptive 336 00:19:09,660 --> 00:19:12,930 Dr. Chris Cockel: traits that have been lost in the domesticated crops. So that's 337 00:19:12,960 --> 00:19:15,359 Dr. Chris Cockel: what we're trying to capture when we're collecting the seeds 338 00:19:15,359 --> 00:19:18,869 Dr. Chris Cockel: of these wild species. There's a scale between wild and 339 00:19:18,869 --> 00:19:22,230 Dr. Chris Cockel: domesticated, so we're now at the fully domesticated. There are 340 00:19:22,230 --> 00:19:25,230 Dr. Chris Cockel: intermediate stages as well, semi- domesticated, and these are called 341 00:19:25,230 --> 00:19:28,830 Dr. Chris Cockel: heritage varieties. And then there's the truly wild, and the 342 00:19:28,830 --> 00:19:31,890 Dr. Chris Cockel: further away from the domesticated you get, the more difficult 343 00:19:31,890 --> 00:19:34,590 Dr. Chris Cockel: it is to breed those wild ones with the domesticated 344 00:19:34,590 --> 00:19:36,990 Dr. Chris Cockel: because they're almost different species. In some cases they are 345 00:19:36,990 --> 00:19:37,560 Dr. Chris Cockel: different species. 346 00:19:38,040 --> 00:19:41,939 Cate Blanchett: These are called crop wild relatives, and they're really important. 347 00:19:42,119 --> 00:19:44,490 Dr. Chris Cockel: The important thing about the crop wild relatives is that 348 00:19:44,910 --> 00:19:48,510 Dr. Chris Cockel: we can take those adaptive traits, and through traditional breeding 349 00:19:48,510 --> 00:19:51,420 Dr. Chris Cockel: methods, we can breed back into the domesticated crops some 350 00:19:51,420 --> 00:19:55,320 Dr. Chris Cockel: of those important traits that have been lost. And by reintroducing 351 00:19:55,320 --> 00:19:57,990 Dr. Chris Cockel: some of those lost wild traits, you can make our 352 00:19:57,990 --> 00:20:01,290 Dr. Chris Cockel: domesticated crops more capable to withstand the different pressures they're 353 00:20:01,290 --> 00:20:02,490 Dr. Chris Cockel: going to face in the future. 354 00:20:03,450 --> 00:20:05,909 Cate Blanchett: So much of the work of the partnership projects of 355 00:20:05,910 --> 00:20:09,330 Cate Blanchett: the Millennium Seed Bank are future facing and will focus 356 00:20:09,330 --> 00:20:12,570 Cate Blanchett: specifically on the work going on in order to future- 357 00:20:12,570 --> 00:20:17,250 Cate Blanchett: proof in episode three. But for now, let's step back 358 00:20:17,250 --> 00:20:20,159 Cate Blanchett: in time, not as far back as the dawn of 359 00:20:20,160 --> 00:20:24,990 Cate Blanchett: agriculture before crops were ever domesticated, but to the early 360 00:20:24,990 --> 00:20:31,710 Cate Blanchett: 1970s, when it was agricultural industry itself that inspired an idea. 361 00:20:33,030 --> 00:20:37,410 Roger Smith: Looking back, what we were actually doing was seeing how 362 00:20:37,410 --> 00:20:41,670 Roger Smith: much of the technology that they used in crops to 363 00:20:41,670 --> 00:20:49,650 Roger Smith: conserve seeds could be successfully applied to undomesticated, wild plants. 364 00:20:50,220 --> 00:20:54,930 Roger Smith: And it was a case of then beg, stealing, borrowing 365 00:20:54,930 --> 00:21:00,388 Roger Smith: ideas to solve the problems that we had of seed storage. 366 00:21:00,929 --> 00:21:04,230 Cate Blanchett: This is Roger Smith; he's one of the founding fathers 367 00:21:04,230 --> 00:21:08,070 Cate Blanchett: of the Millennium Seed Bank. And now decades later, he's 368 00:21:08,070 --> 00:21:11,160 Cate Blanchett: striding over to meet us in a brightly colored stripy 369 00:21:11,160 --> 00:21:13,649 Cate Blanchett: jumper, with a mysterious smile. 370 00:21:13,980 --> 00:21:20,460 Roger Smith: I came in 1974 as the seed collector, and then 371 00:21:20,460 --> 00:21:25,050 Roger Smith: I became the head of the seed bank project in 2000. 372 00:21:25,800 --> 00:21:29,010 Cate Blanchett: We talked to him back outside the old stone mansion 373 00:21:29,220 --> 00:21:30,300 Cate Blanchett: where it all began. 374 00:21:30,750 --> 00:21:36,419 Roger Smith: At Kew, they had a refrigerated collection of seeds, which 375 00:21:36,420 --> 00:21:41,100 Roger Smith: they used to share with other botanic gardens, and it was 376 00:21:41,220 --> 00:21:44,340 Roger Smith: big enough when it did come down here to go 377 00:21:44,340 --> 00:21:49,410 Roger Smith: into the boot of a Ford Cortina; that's how it 378 00:21:49,410 --> 00:21:54,630 Roger Smith: was transported down. And it went into the chapel. So 379 00:21:54,630 --> 00:21:57,480 Roger Smith: if you like, the chapel changed from saving souls to 380 00:21:57,480 --> 00:21:58,770 Roger Smith: saving seeds. 381 00:21:59,550 --> 00:22:02,879 Cate Blanchett: But the job of saving seeds was new and it 382 00:22:02,880 --> 00:22:04,260 Cate Blanchett: was not straightforward. 383 00:22:04,560 --> 00:22:09,210 Roger Smith: So we were covering everything from " Can you actually collect 384 00:22:09,210 --> 00:22:14,369 Roger Smith: these seeds," and then insufficient number. Then we had to learn how 385 00:22:14,369 --> 00:22:18,449 Roger Smith: to clean seeds so that you ended up with just 386 00:22:18,450 --> 00:22:23,490 Roger Smith: seeds and not seeds and bits of rubbish because you're 387 00:22:23,490 --> 00:22:27,060 Roger Smith: trying to get the smallest volume that you can of 388 00:22:27,060 --> 00:22:30,240 Roger Smith: viable seeds. The other thing you can't do is damage 389 00:22:30,240 --> 00:22:33,690 Roger Smith: the seeds. And we had a few experiments in there 390 00:22:33,690 --> 00:22:37,920 Roger Smith: where we did end up with flour, rather than seeds. 391 00:22:38,010 --> 00:22:40,710 Roger Smith: It was learning just like that as you went along; 392 00:22:40,710 --> 00:22:44,250 Roger Smith: not one question off, move on to the next. At 393 00:22:44,250 --> 00:22:48,210 Roger Smith: the same time we learned keeping them in the building, 394 00:22:48,570 --> 00:22:52,080 Roger Smith: in the open, they would die or begin to die 395 00:22:52,080 --> 00:22:55,020 Roger Smith: in a couple of years. So you had to find out 396 00:22:55,140 --> 00:22:59,250 Roger Smith: how to keep them dry and viable. And then when 397 00:22:59,250 --> 00:23:01,950 Roger Smith: you've got the seeds, you've then got to learn how 398 00:23:01,950 --> 00:23:06,960 Roger Smith: to germinate them to turn them back into plants because 399 00:23:06,960 --> 00:23:10,650 Roger Smith: if you can't turn them back into plants, then what 400 00:23:10,650 --> 00:23:14,100 Roger Smith: was the point? And so it goes on, and never- 401 00:23:14,100 --> 00:23:18,149 Roger Smith: ending sort of beg, steal, or borrow any idea you 402 00:23:18,150 --> 00:23:22,439 Roger Smith: could find that appeared to solve the problem you'd just 403 00:23:22,530 --> 00:23:27,270 Roger Smith: bumped into. We had 20 years of learning how to 404 00:23:27,270 --> 00:23:29,310 Roger Smith: become an overnight sensation. 405 00:23:29,880 --> 00:23:34,350 Cate Blanchett: And 20 years of learning came with its own particular challenges. 406 00:23:34,619 --> 00:23:38,700 Roger Smith: We started to accumulate more research evidence at the same 407 00:23:38,700 --> 00:23:42,990 Roger Smith: time that the conditions that we were putting them into 408 00:23:42,990 --> 00:23:46,440 Roger Smith: were the best for the seeds, with a compromise for 409 00:23:47,490 --> 00:23:51,149 Roger Smith: the economics of running it and the health and safety, 410 00:23:51,150 --> 00:23:54,570 Roger Smith: because at one point we had a room that was 411 00:23:54,570 --> 00:23:59,520 Roger Smith: not at - 20; it was at - 40. And the minute you'd say 412 00:23:59,520 --> 00:24:02,790 Roger Smith: minus 40, you have to go through a whole set 413 00:24:03,720 --> 00:24:08,160 Roger Smith: of medical examinations to make sure you are not going 414 00:24:08,160 --> 00:24:10,350 Roger Smith: to have a heart attack when you walk in or 415 00:24:10,350 --> 00:24:13,200 Roger Smith: walk out. It was a little bit of a Boy 416 00:24:13,200 --> 00:24:16,770 Roger Smith: Scouts adventure, I suppose, if you like, in that respect. 417 00:24:16,770 --> 00:24:20,190 Roger Smith: It was not, " Here you are, sit there, this is what 418 00:24:20,190 --> 00:24:22,950 Roger Smith: you do." It was a case of " This is what 419 00:24:22,950 --> 00:24:24,930 Roger Smith: we want to do. How do you think we do 420 00:24:24,930 --> 00:24:27,600 Roger Smith: it?" It was adventurous. 421 00:24:28,080 --> 00:24:30,959 Cate Blanchett: There's a strong thread, I think, that you'll hear throughout 422 00:24:30,960 --> 00:24:35,250 Cate Blanchett: this series, and that's the passion and determination of like- 423 00:24:35,250 --> 00:24:38,910 Cate Blanchett: minded people from across the globe not taking no for 424 00:24:38,910 --> 00:24:42,389 Cate Blanchett: an answer. People who were pushing the existing boundaries of 425 00:24:42,390 --> 00:24:46,050 Cate Blanchett: science as they play their part in securing the future 426 00:24:46,080 --> 00:24:50,310 Cate Blanchett: of our planet. And that passion was there from the 427 00:24:50,310 --> 00:24:54,420 Cate Blanchett: beginning. For the people at the heart of the MSB, it's 428 00:24:54,450 --> 00:24:57,090 Cate Blanchett: not a job; it's a true vocation. 429 00:24:57,600 --> 00:25:02,430 Roger Smith: I think I had thought I was joining a job. 430 00:25:02,970 --> 00:25:07,109 Roger Smith: Where it became an obsession. And yes, I suppose more 431 00:25:07,109 --> 00:25:11,130 Roger Smith: and more people in the world of biology and botany 432 00:25:11,609 --> 00:25:15,810 Roger Smith: who were concerned about species loss but didn't know what 433 00:25:15,810 --> 00:25:20,430 Roger Smith: to do about it. For us, the mentality was, " Well, 434 00:25:20,430 --> 00:25:23,280 Roger Smith: we've got to start somewhere, and we'll find out as 435 00:25:23,280 --> 00:25:27,150 Roger Smith: we go along." Because that's what humans have always done. 436 00:25:28,080 --> 00:25:32,310 Roger Smith: And so that when the Millennium Commission comes along and 437 00:25:32,310 --> 00:25:36,270 Roger Smith: offers large sums of money for something that is not 438 00:25:36,330 --> 00:25:41,669 Roger Smith: business as usual but is something of a grander scale, 439 00:25:41,670 --> 00:25:47,400 Roger Smith: they wanted it to... I reread the establishing paperwork; they 440 00:25:47,400 --> 00:25:52,109 Roger Smith: wanted the projects to last for the next 30 generations, 441 00:25:52,650 --> 00:25:56,609 Roger Smith: which is another millennium. We'll happily... By that time we 442 00:25:56,609 --> 00:26:00,359 Roger Smith: had seen research that showed that some seeds could last 443 00:26:00,359 --> 00:26:04,530 Roger Smith: for even longer than that. So we could meet their 444 00:26:04,530 --> 00:26:09,930 Roger Smith: sort of ambition. And we had enough partners who'd visited, 445 00:26:09,930 --> 00:26:13,140 Roger Smith: learned around the world that we could say, and " We'll 446 00:26:13,140 --> 00:26:17,670 Roger Smith: work on a global scale, and we'll do 10%," which is the 447 00:26:17,670 --> 00:26:22,140 Roger Smith: rate at which species are reported to be becoming threatened with 448 00:26:22,140 --> 00:26:26,670 Roger Smith: extinction. Having got that, I moved my job to go 449 00:26:26,670 --> 00:26:30,570 Roger Smith: and meet partners and persuade them, would they join in. 450 00:26:30,900 --> 00:26:35,580 Roger Smith: Made relatively easy by that time by the Convention on 451 00:26:35,580 --> 00:26:44,070 Roger Smith: Biological Diversity, which had been, I think, in 1993, and 452 00:26:44,160 --> 00:26:50,070 Roger Smith: there is my favorite bit in the preamble, which says 453 00:26:50,670 --> 00:26:55,260 Roger Smith: that lack of full scientific certainty should not be a 454 00:26:55,260 --> 00:26:59,310 Roger Smith: reason for not acting. So they all signed up and 455 00:26:59,310 --> 00:27:04,619 Roger Smith: stood up, and then the rest, as they say, is history. 456 00:27:06,000 --> 00:27:08,970 Cate Blanchett: If they hadn't signed up and stood up, that history 457 00:27:08,970 --> 00:27:12,420 Cate Blanchett: would look very different today, and so would our future. 458 00:27:13,800 --> 00:27:16,830 Cate Blanchett: I was really, really struck by Roger recounting the early 459 00:27:16,830 --> 00:27:20,190 Cate Blanchett: days of the Millennium Seed Bank. I mean, ultimately it 460 00:27:20,190 --> 00:27:23,160 Cate Blanchett: was a group of people who strongly believed in action, 461 00:27:23,730 --> 00:27:26,430 Cate Blanchett: not just talking about it, but action to preserve our 462 00:27:26,430 --> 00:27:30,330 Cate Blanchett: planet. They might've been thinking about seeds, but they were 463 00:27:30,330 --> 00:27:35,040 Cate Blanchett: thinking big. And the Millennium Seed Bank still thinks big 464 00:27:35,040 --> 00:27:39,449 Cate Blanchett: today. Chris Cockel worked with partners in 25 countries around 465 00:27:39,450 --> 00:27:42,300 Cate Blanchett: the world to coordinate seed collecting efforts for the Crop 466 00:27:42,300 --> 00:27:43,680 Cate Blanchett: Wild Relatives project. 467 00:27:45,810 --> 00:27:49,050 Dr. Chris Cockel: So our partners went out and collected the seeds of the 468 00:27:49,050 --> 00:27:52,410 Dr. Chris Cockel: wild relatives. They sent two- thirds of the collections to 469 00:27:52,410 --> 00:27:55,500 Dr. Chris Cockel: us, and they retained one- third of the collection in their 470 00:27:55,560 --> 00:27:58,380 Dr. Chris Cockel: home countries. And then further down the line, our role 471 00:27:58,380 --> 00:28:00,750 Dr. Chris Cockel: was to send a portion of those seeds to crop 472 00:28:00,750 --> 00:28:03,540 Dr. Chris Cockel: breeders. So from the very start of the project we 473 00:28:03,540 --> 00:28:07,109 Dr. Chris Cockel: had an end use for these seeds. There were two years spent 474 00:28:07,109 --> 00:28:10,590 Dr. Chris Cockel: at the very beginning of the project, from 2011 to 2013, when 475 00:28:10,680 --> 00:28:14,100 Dr. Chris Cockel: a gap analysis was conducted. And this basically looked at 476 00:28:14,160 --> 00:28:16,889 Dr. Chris Cockel: what was already stored in seed banks around the world 477 00:28:17,550 --> 00:28:20,609 Dr. Chris Cockel: and also decided which were the priority crops. And it 478 00:28:20,609 --> 00:28:23,550 Dr. Chris Cockel: turned out that almost 30% of those wild relatives were 479 00:28:23,550 --> 00:28:26,550 Dr. Chris Cockel: not represented in seed banks at all, and up to 480 00:28:26,550 --> 00:28:30,179 Dr. Chris Cockel: 95% of them were not geographically represented. So you are 481 00:28:30,180 --> 00:28:32,940 Dr. Chris Cockel: missing a lot of the genetic diversity that you get 482 00:28:32,940 --> 00:28:36,929 Dr. Chris Cockel: from collecting species from across its geographic range. So for 483 00:28:36,930 --> 00:28:39,360 Dr. Chris Cockel: instance, one of the very basic crop wild relatives we 484 00:28:39,360 --> 00:28:42,030 Dr. Chris Cockel: were collecting was the relative of the carrot. So whereas 485 00:28:42,390 --> 00:28:45,150 Dr. Chris Cockel: the domesticated carrot that you would buy in the supermarket is a 486 00:28:45,150 --> 00:28:49,080 Dr. Chris Cockel: nice, long orange vegetable, the wild relative is just a 487 00:28:49,080 --> 00:28:51,630 Dr. Chris Cockel: gnarly root that you probably wouldn't want to eat. It's 488 00:28:51,630 --> 00:28:55,140 Dr. Chris Cockel: almost like a weed. And that was what was missing 489 00:28:55,200 --> 00:28:59,220 Dr. Chris Cockel: in existing collections. And so that material wasn't available for 490 00:28:59,220 --> 00:29:03,210 Dr. Chris Cockel: breeders to use. The project focused on 29 important crops; 491 00:29:03,330 --> 00:29:05,760 Dr. Chris Cockel: some crops will have more wild relatives than others, like 492 00:29:05,760 --> 00:29:08,160 Dr. Chris Cockel: bananas, only have a few, but aubergine have quite a 493 00:29:08,160 --> 00:29:11,850 Dr. Chris Cockel: lot. You would've thought that the wild relatives of something 494 00:29:11,940 --> 00:29:14,430 Dr. Chris Cockel: as common as a potato would be well banked and 495 00:29:14,430 --> 00:29:16,470 Dr. Chris Cockel: collected, but not at all. That was one of the 496 00:29:16,470 --> 00:29:18,900 Dr. Chris Cockel: really high- priority crops to collect from, and that was 497 00:29:18,900 --> 00:29:20,730 Dr. Chris Cockel: done by our partners in South America, which is where 498 00:29:20,730 --> 00:29:24,600 Dr. Chris Cockel: potatoes originate. We also collected the cereals, which were collected 499 00:29:24,600 --> 00:29:27,150 Dr. Chris Cockel: mostly in what's called the Fertile Crescent in the Eastern 500 00:29:27,150 --> 00:29:30,300 Dr. Chris Cockel: Mediterranean and places like Cyprus and in Italy and Spain. 501 00:29:31,320 --> 00:29:35,100 Dr. Chris Cockel: We collected African and Asian rice, different varieties relating to 502 00:29:35,100 --> 00:29:39,240 Dr. Chris Cockel: that. Virtually everything we eat is, well, yeah, I mean, 503 00:29:40,020 --> 00:29:43,680 Dr. Chris Cockel: I'm just thinking about what I would eat in my 504 00:29:43,680 --> 00:29:45,960 Dr. Chris Cockel: breakfast. I'm having a slice of bread, which is made 505 00:29:45,960 --> 00:29:48,960 Dr. Chris Cockel: out of wheat, and it's just a grass you're eating, 506 00:29:49,380 --> 00:29:50,940 Dr. Chris Cockel: so it's all linked. 507 00:29:51,390 --> 00:29:54,480 Cate Blanchett: But collecting seeds is not always plain sailing. 508 00:29:54,810 --> 00:29:58,260 Dr. Chris Cockel: Our partners in Brazil, for example, collecting rice wild relatives 509 00:29:58,260 --> 00:30:00,300 Dr. Chris Cockel: in the tributaries of the Amazon, they were faced with 510 00:30:00,300 --> 00:30:03,090 Dr. Chris Cockel: caiman in the river. So then they were sort of wading 511 00:30:03,090 --> 00:30:05,700 Dr. Chris Cockel: around in the Amazon River, and they were worried about crocodiles. 512 00:30:06,210 --> 00:30:09,330 Dr. Chris Cockel: In other countries, our partners in Lebanon, where we were collecting 513 00:30:09,810 --> 00:30:13,320 Dr. Chris Cockel: a lot of the cereal wild relatives, of course, there's 514 00:30:13,410 --> 00:30:15,240 Dr. Chris Cockel: human conflict going on in some of those places, and 515 00:30:15,240 --> 00:30:17,490 Dr. Chris Cockel: they weren't able to get to areas where the wild 516 00:30:17,490 --> 00:30:19,860 Dr. Chris Cockel: relatives existed because of security issues. 517 00:30:20,460 --> 00:30:24,300 Cate Blanchett: Once again, this was a partnership populated by passionate and 518 00:30:24,300 --> 00:30:28,380 Cate Blanchett: determined people. And so despite these issues, the seeds were 519 00:30:28,380 --> 00:30:30,930 Cate Blanchett: collected and then stored for safekeeping. 520 00:30:31,410 --> 00:30:36,060 Dr. Chris Cockel: So those wild relative seeds are now at these international crop- 521 00:30:36,060 --> 00:30:39,510 Dr. Chris Cockel: breeding gene banks, and they're available to be incorporated into 522 00:30:39,510 --> 00:30:43,200 Dr. Chris Cockel: breeding projects with the aim of making our domesticated crops 523 00:30:43,440 --> 00:30:46,560 Dr. Chris Cockel: more able to withstand the pressures of climate change and 524 00:30:46,560 --> 00:30:48,570 Dr. Chris Cockel: various pests and diseases that they might be faced with 525 00:30:48,570 --> 00:30:49,110 Dr. Chris Cockel: in the future. 526 00:30:49,860 --> 00:30:52,560 Cate Blanchett: It's become very clear to me that the Millennium Seed 527 00:30:52,560 --> 00:30:56,760 Cate Blanchett: Bank thrives because of its global partnerships and that this 528 00:30:56,760 --> 00:31:01,830 Cate Blanchett: isn't just a future- facing mission. Also, it's about deposits 529 00:31:01,830 --> 00:31:06,000 Cate Blanchett: and withdrawals in the present. And the first- ever withdrawal 530 00:31:06,000 --> 00:31:09,030 Cate Blanchett: request struck a very personal note for me. 531 00:31:10,170 --> 00:31:13,590 Dan Duval: In late December 2019, there were a number of major 532 00:31:13,590 --> 00:31:17,190 Dan Duval: bushfires around South Australia. One of them, which started on the 533 00:31:17,220 --> 00:31:21,720 Dan Duval: 20th of December 2019, was in Adelaide Hills, and it 534 00:31:21,720 --> 00:31:25,800 Dan Duval: was basically catastrophic fire conditions around the state. So this 535 00:31:25,800 --> 00:31:28,440 Dan Duval: is where we have very strong winds and very high temperatures. 536 00:31:29,010 --> 00:31:32,220 Dan Duval: And this fire that started on the 20th of December was finally put out 537 00:31:32,310 --> 00:31:36,210 Dan Duval: on the 3rd of January 2020, but in that time it burnt out 24, 538 00:31:36,210 --> 00:31:40,200 Dan Duval: 000 hectares, probably 80 to 90 homes were destroyed. 539 00:31:41,040 --> 00:31:44,640 Cate Blanchett: As with any disaster on this scale, it's not just 540 00:31:44,640 --> 00:31:48,990 Cate Blanchett: the built environment and we humans that suffer; all of 541 00:31:48,990 --> 00:31:54,420 Cate Blanchett: nature suffers. Dan Duval is senior seed collections officer for 542 00:31:54,420 --> 00:31:58,110 Cate Blanchett: the South Australian Seed Conservation Centre in Adelaide, which has 543 00:31:58,110 --> 00:32:01,740 Cate Blanchett: been working with the Millennium Seed Bank since 2003. 544 00:32:02,100 --> 00:32:03,930 Dan Duval: At the time, we were monitoring a number of threatened 545 00:32:03,930 --> 00:32:08,160 Dan Duval: species within small reserves in that area, and unfortunately, there 546 00:32:08,160 --> 00:32:11,670 Dan Duval: were a number of localized population extinctions of threatened species 547 00:32:11,670 --> 00:32:15,570 Dan Duval: that occurred within that fire scar. One of those species 548 00:32:15,570 --> 00:32:18,900 Dan Duval: that we thought we lost were a couple of populations 549 00:32:18,900 --> 00:32:22,500 Dan Duval: of what we call clover glycine. Clover glycine is a 550 00:32:22,500 --> 00:32:26,250 Dan Duval: nationally vulnerable species, so it's something of significance nationwide in 551 00:32:26,250 --> 00:32:33,870 Dan Duval: Australia. The populations in Lobethal Park were banked some years 552 00:32:33,870 --> 00:32:38,820 Dan Duval: ago, probably 2004. And because we weren't seeing a good 553 00:32:38,820 --> 00:32:42,450 Dan Duval: recovery of this plant species post- fire, we knew we needed 554 00:32:42,690 --> 00:32:45,750 Dan Duval: to actually utilize some seeds from the seed bank and 555 00:32:45,750 --> 00:32:48,960 Dan Duval: use them in post- fire recovery work to reintroduce this 556 00:32:48,960 --> 00:32:52,770 Dan Duval: plant species. We couldn't use the seeds from the Seed 557 00:32:52,770 --> 00:32:57,390 Dan Duval: Conservation Centre for recovery work within the fire scar because 558 00:32:57,390 --> 00:32:59,640 Dan Duval: the population we had banked here in Australia was from 559 00:32:59,640 --> 00:33:05,430 Dan Duval: a different location. Fortunately, we had a collection banked near 560 00:33:05,640 --> 00:33:09,719 Dan Duval: the fire scar that we'd actually banked with MSB in 561 00:33:09,720 --> 00:33:10,320 Dan Duval: the UK. 562 00:33:11,220 --> 00:33:13,500 Cate Blanchett: But bringing those seeds back wasn't easy. 563 00:33:14,220 --> 00:33:17,910 Dan Duval: One of the challenges was we were repatriating a species 564 00:33:18,540 --> 00:33:21,390 Dan Duval: of native plant that was rare from Australia back into country. 565 00:33:21,720 --> 00:33:24,960 Cate Blanchett: Now for any of you who have visited my homeland, 566 00:33:25,470 --> 00:33:29,340 Cate Blanchett: you'll know that even bringing muddy boots into the country 567 00:33:29,370 --> 00:33:33,360 Cate Blanchett: is difficult, let alone reintroducing a whole plant species. 568 00:33:34,050 --> 00:33:37,590 Dan Duval: Our quarantine service had never dealt with this before, so 569 00:33:37,590 --> 00:33:39,780 Dan Duval: they had no process for us to be able to 570 00:33:39,780 --> 00:33:43,140 Dan Duval: repatriate the seeds back into our country. So it was 571 00:33:43,140 --> 00:33:47,250 Dan Duval: an interesting process to go through to actually ship native 572 00:33:47,250 --> 00:33:50,730 Dan Duval: seeds. Originally collected from South Australia, stored in the UK 573 00:33:50,790 --> 00:33:51,720 Dan Duval: back into Australia. 574 00:33:52,590 --> 00:33:55,200 Cate Blanchett: Returning the seeds to Australia was just the beginning. 575 00:33:56,070 --> 00:33:58,920 Dan Duval: The most important thing is to utilize every seed that 576 00:33:58,920 --> 00:34:02,070 Dan Duval: we received in the sample. So after nicking the seeds 577 00:34:02,070 --> 00:34:04,290 Dan Duval: to remove the physical dormancy and germinate them, and the first 578 00:34:04,290 --> 00:34:06,420 Dan Duval: thing we do was grow the seeds and plant them 579 00:34:06,420 --> 00:34:09,600 Dan Duval: in a seed orchard. So we want to turn the 100 seeds 580 00:34:09,600 --> 00:34:12,299 Dan Duval: or so that we received into 100s of plants that 581 00:34:12,300 --> 00:34:17,370 Dan Duval: we can use for reintroduction. We planted seeds that we 582 00:34:17,370 --> 00:34:21,660 Dan Duval: germinated in the lab into pots that we then grew 583 00:34:21,660 --> 00:34:24,870 Dan Duval: for a period to ensure they were viable. And then 584 00:34:24,870 --> 00:34:28,500 Dan Duval: the successful plants were then transplanted to what we call a 585 00:34:28,500 --> 00:34:32,670 Dan Duval: seed production area, which are large raised tank beds that 586 00:34:32,670 --> 00:34:38,730 Dan Duval: we then harvest plants or harvest seeds from. Those plants 587 00:34:38,730 --> 00:34:42,000 Dan Duval: are still in the seed orchard today and are still flowering 588 00:34:42,000 --> 00:34:45,120 Dan Duval: and setting seed and still being utilized in projects. Walked 589 00:34:45,120 --> 00:34:45,960 Dan Duval: past it yesterday. 590 00:34:46,320 --> 00:34:48,779 Cate Blanchett: But of course, the habitat that the seeds were originally 591 00:34:48,780 --> 00:34:51,930 Cate Blanchett: collected in was a very different one to this new fire- 592 00:34:51,930 --> 00:34:52,980 Cate Blanchett: scarred version. 593 00:34:53,400 --> 00:34:56,820 Dan Duval: The landscape post- fire was completely different to that prior 594 00:34:57,120 --> 00:34:59,130 Dan Duval: to the fire in the sense that it was almost 595 00:34:59,130 --> 00:35:02,549 Dan Duval: a moonscape. There was no vegetation cover. There was an 596 00:35:02,550 --> 00:35:06,810 Dan Duval: ash layer that was a few centimeters thick. So when 597 00:35:06,810 --> 00:35:08,760 Dan Duval: you think about a few months earlier when you could 598 00:35:08,760 --> 00:35:11,730 Dan Duval: have visited the glycine, it was a quite shady habitat growing of 599 00:35:11,730 --> 00:35:17,759 Dan Duval: mosses, south- facing slopes. It's taken some years for that 600 00:35:17,760 --> 00:35:21,150 Dan Duval: landscape to settle down and for that shade or canopy 601 00:35:21,150 --> 00:35:25,110 Dan Duval: cover to develop and for that ash layer to become 602 00:35:25,110 --> 00:35:30,239 Dan Duval: more minimal. So in 2022, we introduced our first plants 603 00:35:30,239 --> 00:35:34,020 Dan Duval: of clover glycine to three sites within the fire scar. 604 00:35:34,950 --> 00:35:37,920 Dan Duval: When a fire event of this scale comes in, there's 605 00:35:37,920 --> 00:35:41,189 Dan Duval: not a capacity for these small populations to survive these 606 00:35:41,190 --> 00:35:44,040 Dan Duval: events. So what we need to do is produce a 607 00:35:44,070 --> 00:35:47,339 Dan Duval: resilient population that can survive these sort of events, that 608 00:35:47,340 --> 00:35:50,820 Dan Duval: can compete with introduced species that can attract pollinators. And 609 00:35:50,820 --> 00:35:55,110 Dan Duval: that's why we've been reintroducing the clover glycine since 2022. 610 00:35:55,110 --> 00:35:57,570 Dan Duval: So we've reintroduced hundreds of plants to some of these 611 00:35:57,570 --> 00:36:05,549 Dan Duval: sites now, and monitoring back in June by volunteers have 612 00:36:05,790 --> 00:36:11,009 Dan Duval: got populations surviving up to 100%. So some populations: 75%, 80%, and 613 00:36:11,130 --> 00:36:13,710 Dan Duval: some of these populations are now 100% from year to 614 00:36:13,710 --> 00:36:17,700 Dan Duval: year. So we're getting success over time. We think we're 615 00:36:17,700 --> 00:36:20,730 Dan Duval: doing well, and we're now getting to the point where 616 00:36:20,730 --> 00:36:25,589 Dan Duval: those populations are at least equivalent or more to what 617 00:36:25,590 --> 00:36:28,950 Dan Duval: the original population was pre- fire. There's more work being 618 00:36:28,950 --> 00:36:31,380 Dan Duval: done, and more clover glycine will be introduced. 619 00:36:31,950 --> 00:36:34,530 Cate Blanchett: And the long- standing collaboration with the team at Wakehurst 620 00:36:34,650 --> 00:36:36,989 Cate Blanchett: has been key, even up to the present day. 621 00:36:37,680 --> 00:36:41,160 Dan Duval: The partnership with MSB has been very significant for the SA Seed 622 00:36:41,610 --> 00:36:46,590 Dan Duval: Conservation Centre, partly because the program wouldn't have commenced without 623 00:36:46,590 --> 00:36:49,319 Dan Duval: the support of the Millennium Seed Bank, but also the 624 00:36:49,320 --> 00:36:52,890 Dan Duval: sharing of knowledge and expertise. We have a seed bank 625 00:36:52,890 --> 00:36:56,460 Dan Duval: here in Australia, but if anything were to happen to 626 00:36:56,460 --> 00:36:58,500 Dan Duval: our collections, at least we know that we've got these 627 00:36:58,500 --> 00:37:02,190 Dan Duval: collections that are managed very well in the UK by 628 00:37:02,190 --> 00:37:05,550 Dan Duval: MSB and that we can call on these insurance collections 629 00:37:05,550 --> 00:37:08,189 Dan Duval: that are stored in the UK when we need them. 630 00:37:08,610 --> 00:37:12,210 Cate Blanchett: Listening to Dan, you begin to grasp the far- reaching 631 00:37:12,210 --> 00:37:15,960 Cate Blanchett: impact of a project set in motion decades ago by 632 00:37:15,960 --> 00:37:19,560 Cate Blanchett: Roger Smith and his colleagues, Simon Linington and Giles Coode‑ 633 00:37:19,560 --> 00:37:23,940 Cate Blanchett: Adams. From makeshift lab benches in the old mansion to 634 00:37:23,940 --> 00:37:26,700 Cate Blanchett: a state- of- the- art facility sunk deep beneath the 635 00:37:26,700 --> 00:37:31,770 Cate Blanchett: grounds in Wakehurst, it's an extraordinary journey. And I wondered, 636 00:37:32,370 --> 00:37:35,489 Cate Blanchett: did they ever have a moment when the sheer gravity 637 00:37:35,610 --> 00:37:39,390 Cate Blanchett: of their idea truly settled upon them when they realized 638 00:37:39,390 --> 00:37:41,400 Cate Blanchett: the scale of what they'd begun? 639 00:37:42,000 --> 00:37:45,900 Roger Smith: The only time I panicked was when they had started 640 00:37:45,900 --> 00:37:50,580 Roger Smith: to build and they had dug the hole into which 641 00:37:51,180 --> 00:37:56,820 Roger Smith: the second floor was going to be sunk. And Simon 642 00:37:56,820 --> 00:38:01,200 Roger Smith: and I, on a Friday, we sneaked onto the site 643 00:38:01,200 --> 00:38:04,770 Roger Smith: and looked in the hole, and that is the point 644 00:38:04,770 --> 00:38:08,009 Roger Smith: at which I said to Simon, " What have we started?" 645 00:38:08,010 --> 00:38:12,360 Roger Smith: And from there on, there is only one way, which 646 00:38:12,360 --> 00:38:14,520 Roger Smith: is out and up. 647 00:38:15,300 --> 00:38:18,569 Cate Blanchett: Taking part in this series marked the first time in 648 00:38:18,570 --> 00:38:22,379 Cate Blanchett: many years that Roger had returned to Wakehurst. And as 649 00:38:22,380 --> 00:38:26,700 Cate Blanchett: he stood outside the old stone mansion, 51 years on 650 00:38:26,700 --> 00:38:30,870 Cate Blanchett: from that old butcher's freezer, he reflected on his work 651 00:38:31,200 --> 00:38:33,090 Cate Blanchett: and all that had stemmed from it. 652 00:38:33,690 --> 00:38:38,910 Roger Smith: Am I proud? I'm proudest of the fact that a 653 00:38:38,910 --> 00:38:44,129 Roger Smith: strange, ragbag of individuals, in which I include myself quite 654 00:38:44,130 --> 00:38:50,969 Roger Smith: happily, should come together and do something that had global 655 00:38:50,969 --> 00:38:56,219 Roger Smith: significance, we hope. It is 51 years since I walked 656 00:38:56,280 --> 00:39:02,370 Roger Smith: in with hair and not really knowing what I'd come 657 00:39:02,370 --> 00:39:06,960 Roger Smith: to and what was expected of me. So coming back 658 00:39:06,960 --> 00:39:11,130 Roger Smith: today has been quite... I even drove the same route 659 00:39:11,219 --> 00:39:15,719 Roger Smith: that I drove from home to come into work. A 660 00:39:15,719 --> 00:39:20,430 Roger Smith: lot has changed. It's quite emotional to be back in a 661 00:39:20,430 --> 00:39:24,960 Roger Smith: confusing way because what you do is to regret the 662 00:39:24,960 --> 00:39:30,989 Roger Smith: things you could have done better. And I wouldn't say 663 00:39:30,989 --> 00:39:35,250 Roger Smith: downplay the things you did that worked well. But yes, 664 00:39:36,810 --> 00:39:39,360 Roger Smith: you will remember those occasions as you think, " Oh, if 665 00:39:39,360 --> 00:39:42,060 Roger Smith: only they could replay the tape," and you'd get there. 666 00:39:42,120 --> 00:39:45,690 Roger Smith: But on the whole, it's been fun. 667 00:39:49,950 --> 00:39:55,680 Cate Blanchett: They were a self- proclaimed, strange ragbag of individuals who, over 668 00:39:56,040 --> 00:40:00,300 Cate Blanchett: 50 years ago, sowed the seeds of a small project 669 00:40:00,600 --> 00:40:05,280 Cate Blanchett: with a big vision. A project that has since grown 670 00:40:05,340 --> 00:40:09,330 Cate Blanchett: into a global endeavor with branches all over the world, 671 00:40:09,600 --> 00:40:15,480 Cate Blanchett: sustained by remarkable people united in their mission to use 672 00:40:15,480 --> 00:40:19,620 Cate Blanchett: the power of wild seeds to secure the future of 673 00:40:19,620 --> 00:40:25,230 Cate Blanchett: our planet. In our next episode, we'll be moving from 674 00:40:25,230 --> 00:40:29,219 Cate Blanchett: the mansion to the modern building that houses the MSB 675 00:40:29,219 --> 00:40:33,060 Cate Blanchett: today. We'll go behind- the- scenes into the laboratories and 676 00:40:33,060 --> 00:40:37,170 Cate Blanchett: the vaults themselves to uncover the extraordinary science of seed 677 00:40:37,170 --> 00:40:41,790 Cate Blanchett: processing and preservation. Seeds we're banking on for our future. 678 00:40:43,980 --> 00:40:48,180 Cate Blanchett: I'm Cate Blanchett, Kew's ambassador for Wakehurst, and this is 679 00:40:48,180 --> 00:40:53,040 Cate Blanchett: Unearthed: The Need for Seeds. Find us wherever you get 680 00:40:53,040 --> 00:40:55,920 Cate Blanchett: your podcasts, and please follow us so you don't miss 681 00:40:55,920 --> 00:40:59,520 Cate Blanchett: a moment of our story. And I invite you to 682 00:40:59,520 --> 00:41:02,190 Cate Blanchett: join me in supporting the vital work of the MSB 683 00:41:02,489 --> 00:41:05,340 Cate Blanchett: by making a donation today. Just click the link in 684 00:41:05,340 --> 00:41:09,510 Cate Blanchett: the episode description to learn more. Until next time, thanks 685 00:41:09,510 --> 00:41:09,930 Cate Blanchett: for listening.