Cate Blanchett joins forces with King Charles for a surprisingly fascinating podcast. Titled “Unearthed,” it highlights the crucial work being done at the Millennium Seed Bank. This program is administered by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. It showcases the seed bank’s indispensable work to conserve biodiversity and combat the alarming global rate of plant species extinction.
Wakehurst’s Millennium Seed Bank has been one of Kew’s greatest successes since being opened by King Charles in 2000. He’s kept a close watch on its operations and growth, coming back to see the facility in 2019. To date, the seed bank has saved close to 2.5 billion seeds since its opening in 2000. It safeguards more than 40,000 plant species from all over the globe. These seeds then go through a rigorous cleaning, drying and storing process in industrial-grade, minus 20-degree walk-in freezers.
In the podcast, then Prince Charles went on to speak very passionately about his role as a patron of Kew. He especially stressed the increasingly vital urgency of the seed bank’s mission. “I think it’s wonderful what the seed bank is doing, but we’ve got to speed up the process,” he noted. He further highlighted the alarming statistics regarding biodiversity loss, stating that “97% of the wildflower meadows have been decimated.”
Blanchett, also an ambassador for Wakehurst, affirmed this belief, underscoring the need to raise awareness about biodiversity crisis. She noted that there’s considerable room for scaling up current programs that could go a long way toward helping the administration achieve its conservation goals. There’s over a hundred terrific projects already in line waiting to be scaled up. There’s a desire, there’s an intent, but there’s just… there’s not the direction of the money,” she said.
The podcast includes Dr. Elinor Breman. She accompanies Blanchett and King Charles as they explore the crucial work being done at the seed bank. During their discussion, the rapid need for investment in biodiversity preservation was a huge focus. The king asserted that stakeholders should recognize “surely in their interest to invest in the protection, enhancement, and restoration of the biodiversity.”
Blanchett expressed her shock at the extent of environmental damage, stating, “I was shocked to learn that 97% of the wildflower meadows have been decimated. I don’t think it’s something that we quite understand here because we look around us and in the immediate term, we see so much natural beauty. We don’t think how fragile it is.”
King Charles added to this concern by reflecting on historical context: “I thought it was a good excuse because I knew about the real damage that has been done to all our flower-rich meadows since the war, really.” Through their dialogue, both parties highlight a mutual dedication to increasing awareness and encouraging action for the protection of biodiversity.
