The UK Overseas Territories
and the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew

The UK’s Overseas Territories (UKOTs) encompass some of the most remote and biologically interesting places in the world. Many of them are isolated islands, scattered around the globe from the Mediterranean southwards to Antarctica, and from the Caribbean in the west to the Indian Ocean and Pacific in the east. RBG Kew’s botanists and conservationists work with partners in the Territories and internationally to safeguard their remarkable biological diversity.

Drawing on RBG Kew’s resources:

RBG Kew’s UK Overseas Territories programme draws on Kew’s botanical and horticultural expertise; its active botanical research programmes; its policy experience and its plant and library collections.

Working in partnership:

Underpinning RBG Kew’s UKOTs programme are strong partnerships with conservation organisations, both governmental and independent, in Territory and internationally, as well as with local communities within individual Territories.

We work in close liaison with UK Government Departments with specific responsibilities for UKOTs, most notably the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Department for International Development, and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

RBG Kew is an active member of the UK Overseas Territories Conservation Forum. We collaborate with key UK biodiversity institutions with interests in the UKOTs, including the RSPB, the Marine Turtle Research Group and the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust.

Building capacity:

RBG Kew’s UKOTs programme aims to empower people and institutions working in biodiversity conservation within the UKOTs to make informed decisions on managing their unique communities of plants and animals.

RBG Kew’s UKOTs programme supports the development of specialist skills in plant identification and inventory, horticulture, conservation management, botanical collections management and scientific research for colleagues from local partner organisations.

International context:

Through its UKOTs programme and other activities, RBG Kew contributes directly to the implementation of global environmental charters and agreements, including the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Convention on Trade in Endangered Species and the Global Strategy on Plant Conservation.

UK Overseas Territories

Conservation activities

Capacity
building

Community involvement