The institution known as Kew Gardens is no stranger to enforced, cataclysmic change. In the early hours of October 16 1987 the Great Storm that blew through the south of England uprooted more than 700 trees at the Royal Botanic Gardens – and taught arborists some new things about roots and planting that they could never otherwise have learnt.
For the past 12 months Kew has been in the midst of another storm, just as deracinating – a budget shortfall from its sponsoring ministry, the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra), that has gone hand in hand with a radical restructuring of its scientific work and led to a fifth of its scientists losing their jobs.
The Telegraph: How Kew Gardens is battling to survive
Comments