Rob: Hello! I’m Rob, this is 6 Minute English - and today, I'm joined by
Yvonne. Hello, Yvonne.
Yvonne: Hi Rob!
Rob: Today, we’re talking about seed banks – a place where the seeds from all kinds
of plants are carefully stored. Unfortunately, researchers are warning that about
one fifth of the world's plants are at risk of becoming extinct.
Yvonne: Wow – so there's a danger that they might disappear altogether. That's really
worrying, Rob.
Rob: Yes it is, but the seed bank is also showing people how to grow plants from
those seeds again in the future. But, before we find out more about protecting
the world's plants from extinction, here's today's question: The Youtan Poluo is
one of the world's rarest flowers and was recently found in China.
Yvonne: Yes, by a farmer!
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Rob: That's right, but how often does it bloom - so, when will the farmer see it in
flower again? Is it:
a) in 1000 years
b) another 3000 years or
c) in another 5000 years? Yvonne, what did you say when you were looking at
this story yesterday?
Yvonne: Well, I went for the lowest number, Rob – once every one thousand years. But
even that seemed far too long for another flower to appear!
Rob: Yes, I know what you mean – so we'll find out how long the Youtan Poluo
actually does take to bloom later on. Now, the Millennium Seed Bank is a
project based just outside London and it was set up in the year 2000.
Yvonne: But I've heard that there are other seed banks in other countries which are also
a part of that project.
Rob: That's true, so seeds are sent in from all over the world. But the big question is:
why are so many plants dying out in the world?
Yvonne: And how does the bank decide which seeds should be stored?
Rob: Well, Paul Smith is head of the Millennium Seed Bank - he has some answers
for us.
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Extract 1:
It’s absolutely essential that we get the right species – those which are most threatened,
those which are most useful, because we know that there's a good chance that many
plant species will become extinct over the next few decades. And it’s largely land-use
change; it’s development for agriculture, it's development for urban centres and so on.
Rob: Paul Smith says that many 'plant species' – that’s different types of plants – are
dying out because of 'land use change' – so we no longer use our land in the
same way. For example, it's used for 'development for agriculture'. Yvonne,
tell us what Paul Smith means by that, please?
Yvonne: Well, land where lots of plant species used to grow is being cleared for farming
- to grow crops and to raise animals.
Rob: And what about 'development for urban centres'?
Yvonne: Land is also being used to build new cities – places where people live, work
and shop.
Rob: So it's essential or absolutely necessary – for the bank to store the seeds of
plants which are 'most threatened' – or at the greatest risk or danger of
becoming extinct. But the bank must also store the seeds which are the most
useful to us.
Yvonne: For example, the seeds of food plants or plants that can be used to develop new
medicines.
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Rob: Now, it's also interesting how the bank stores seeds so that they can be used to
grow plants in the future. Here's what the BBC's David Shukman found out
when he visited the Millennium Seed Bank.
Extract 2:
And this is where all those seeds end up - 1.8 billion of them in one of these cold stores
kept at minus 20. That's why you have to wear the cold weather equipment. Jar after jar,
tube after tube, of these seeds, from more than 160 countries. The whole point of this
Millennium Seed bank is to try to build up a store of the planet’s plant biodiversity.
Rob: The 1.8 billion seeds have come from more than one hundred and sixty
countries and the seeds are stored at minus twenty degrees centigrade – much,
much colder than the freezing point for water.
Yvonne: So David Shukman definitely needed to wear 'cold weather equipment' to
protect him from the extreme cold.
Rob: Absolutely. Now ideally, the bank would like to have seeds from all the plants
in the world – seeds from 'the planet's plant biodiversity'. By the end of last
year, the bank had 10% of the world's plant biodiversity.
Yvonne: And by 2020, the Millennium Seed Bank hopes to have seeds from about 25%
of the world's plants. So there's lots of work to do.
Rob: Now speaking of plant biodiversity - earlier, I asked how often the Youtan
Poluo blooms. Was it every 1,000 years, 3,000 years or every 5,000 years?
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Yvonne: And yesterday, I thought – surely it can't take longer than a thousand years to
bloom? But even that wasn't long enough for the plant to flower, was it?
Rob: No, that’s right. According to botanical experts – the people who know the
most about plants - the Youtan Poluo only blooms once every three thousand
years. In fact, the flower is so rare that people thought it only existed in sacred
Buddhist writings.
Yvonne: So the farmer who found it only has to wait for roughly another three thousand
years to see the flower again, if he can keep the plant alive!
Rob: And if he stays alive that long! Okay, there's just time now for a reminder of
some of the language we have came across in today's programme. Yvonne, can
you help us with those please?
Yvonne: Certainly, Rob. We heard:
Extinct
Bloom
Species
Agriculture
Urban centres
Plant biodiversity
Botanical experts
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Rob: Thank you. Well, we hope you've enjoyed today's "6 Minute English" – and do
join us again soon for more.
Rob/Yvonne: Goodbye!
