The Garden's funding body, the Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department (SEERAD) recently announced that it has allocated this sum over two years to fund maintenance and repairs at Edinburgh, Benmore, Logan and Dawyck, and to make modifications in line with the Disability Discrimination Act.
A much-needed extension to the building housing RBGE's world-renowned Herbarium (right) will also be built using this additional capital, allowing for a 25 per cent expansion in storage space for its scientifically important collection of pressed plant specimens. The two million strong collection, representing plant life from around the world, grows at a rate of 10,000 a year.