The announcement was made by Simon Clarke, chief secretary to the treasury, on a visit to Kew Gardens, while the UK government continues to host COP26 in Glasgow.
The Herbarium is 170 years old and contains approximately 8.5 million items – including some collected by Charles Darwin – which staff store, catalogue, arrange systematically, and carefully preserve for future generations. This record is used to identify specimens collected in the field – including by providing DNA samples – and compare newly discovered species with known species. It contains around 95 per cent of vascular plant genera, 60 per cent of fungal genera, and 330,000 type specimens with 25,000 more added each year.
So far, just 12 per cent of the Herbarium collection has been databased, including all type specimens, which have also been imaged. According to Clarke, the £15m cash injection will allow researchers from around the world to access the historic collection free of charge...