Kew 'irreversibly damaged' by cuts

Conservation work at The Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew will be 'irreversibly damaged' by cuts in government funding, specialists have warned.

Prospect, the scientists' union, said that the Royal Botanic Gardens' ability to help conserve plants, fungi and the environment will be hit badly by plans to shed 130 public engagement and science staff because of a £5 million cut in funding.

It said that the job cuts come after a steep reduction in Kew's public funding from the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which was first announced in 2010.

They feel that the government's short-sighted approach to the institution's funding is hypocritical, given that its Heritage Act requires Kew to carry out its plant and fungal conservation work.  They say that Kew does this work cheaply and does it cheaper and cheaper every year.

Successive independent reviews of the institution have praised the quality and value of its scientific work and recommended that its public funding be maintained or increased.

Is this a predictable view coming from a union who after all will always be keen to defend its members' interests - or do they have a serious point?  I feel that the government can't require Kew to carry out work under the Heritage Act but then deny Kew the wherewithall to do the job.

National Heritage Acts, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Heritage_Acts

location of Kew

also see: http://www.kew.org/science-conservation/research-data/science-directory
and http://www.kew.org/discover/blogs/kew-science