‘Every box has been opened’: London botanic gardens digitizes 7 million specimens

The Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew in London has digitized 7.4 million plant and fungi specimens, making them freely accessible to researchers worldwide. This £15 million project, funded by the UK government, involved 100 staff and 42 volunteers using high-resolution cameras. The digital collection is available on Kew’s website and through the Global Biodiversity Information Facility. This effort aims to democratize access to scientific resources and is part of a broader UK initiative to digitize natural-history collections. The 2026 State of the World’s Plants and Fungi report, released alongside the digitization announcement, highlights the potential of digitization and AI in advancing plant and fungi science. The report notes that 29,748 plant species are at risk of extinction, with many more potentially undiscovered. This initiative could significantly impact the UK economy and global scientific research. QUESTION: How might the digitization of plant and fungi collections influence future scientific discoveries and conservation efforts?