Kew: Science: UK Overseas Territories

Where am I?

UK Overseas Territories Programme

Field work on Anegada

British Virgin Islands: Kew Connections
Historical connections
	Walter Fishlock was a gardener at Kew at the end of the nineteenth century. In 1902, he went out to the British Virgin Islands as an agricultural instructor at the experimental station on Tortola. During his time in BVI he was instrumental in introducing various crops to the islands, but he also took part in plant collecting expeditions, sending back specimens to Kew. Among them was a specimen of Senna polyphylla var. neglecta. This plant was not rediscovered until a Kew expedition in 2004 and was collected in flower for the first time on a subsequent expedition.

Activities in territory

Kew’s conservation staff have been involved in two major projects in the BVI, both in partnership with the BVI National Parks Trust (BVINPT) as well as other local and international organisations.

Darwin Initiative Projects on Virgin Gorda and Anegada

The first project documented the plants and animals of Gorda Peak National Park on Virgin Gorda and of a proposed protected wetland area on Anegada. The second project assessed the coastal biodiversity of Anegada. Both projects helped to develop specialist skills in biodiversity monitoring and conservation management for staff from partner organisations within BVI. Community groups, schools and colleges have been involved in the projects, through field trips, competitions and individual investigations into local plant uses.

Find out more about these projects:
• Darwin Initiative Integrating National Parks, Education and Community Development for the British Virgin Islands
• Darwin Initiative Assessment of the Coastal Biodiversity of Anegada

Collecting Leptocereus quadricostatus on Anegada

J R O'Neal Botanic Garden and horticultural activities

. Propagating Leptocereus quadricostatus

Several threatened native species have been established in cultivation in the J R O’Neal Botanic Garden by members of Kew’s conservation team. These include the scrambling cactus, Leptocereus quadricostatus, and Malpighia woodburyana. We have also developed a cultivation protocol for Acacia anegadensis. These activities are contributing to achieving Target 3 of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation, which features the development of protocols for plant conservation.

Seed collecting
One of the Millennium Seed Bank’s seed collectors has trained staff from the BVINPT in seed collecting techniques and has worked with them to collect and store seeds from many of Anegada’s threatened native plants.

Raising public awareness
	To raise the profile of the islands’ native plants and the threats they face, a series of posters of both unique species and of potentially invasive exotic species have been produced for display in the islands. Schoolchildren from BVI have accompanied Kew botanists on fieldtrips and have taken part in competitions to find out more about their local plants. Kew has also publicised Anegada’s plants through the Treasured Islands and Message in a Bottle exhibits at the Royal Horticultural Society’s Chelsea Flower Show and in an exhibition of photograms of Anegada's plants Caught in Time at Wakehurst Place, its sister garden in Sussex.
Capacity building
Kew is active in building capacity for conservation within the UK Overseas Territories. Two British Virgin Islanders have taken part in Kew’s training programme, attending the International Diploma in Herbarium Techniques and the Darwin Initiative funded Threatened Plant Propagation course. Find out more about International Diploma Courses

Specimen under the spotlight: Acacia anegadensis
This spiny tree is unique to Anegada’s limestone cays. Its local name is poke-me-boy, possibly on account of its vicious thorns. Due to local building programmes, its habitat is under pressure and A. anegadensis is listed as Critically Endangered. The tree's seeds have been collected for safe storage in the Millennium Seed Bank and for the development of germination schemes so that it can be reliably propagated from seed. Studies at Kew have shown that the hard-coated seeds have to be chipped to increase germination levels and that the seedlings grow best in a well-drained loam-based compost under warm dry conditions. This germination scheme, and those from similar studies on seeds from other plant species, will be freely available to other botanic gardens and conservation organisations.