Earths great seed vault
The Svalbard Seed vault: A genetic repository for humankind, looking towards an uncertain future. Project started in 1984.
What is the Svalbard Seed vault? It is a hardened storage facility located offshore Norway in a remote island chain known as Svalbard. (78.235867°N 15.491374°E) This is a special facility for storing rare and important varieties of seed from around the world. Any country is allowed to deposit seeds into the vault and retain the rights to withdraw them at a later date.
A link to the project website: https://www.seedvault.no/
Saving seeds helps to prevent the extinction of these species. With a repository of these seeds, dried and preserved at near-freezing and below zero temperatures, their longevity is ensured. The physical characteristics of the terrain (130m above sea level, as well as being located in a frozen, strategically unimportant area afford the seeds extra safety. This protection is from both man and nature as both natural disaster and wars have had a history of destroying genebanks.)
Other notable projects aimed at providing a safety net against loss of diversity in traditional genebanks include The Millennium Seed Bank Partnership in association with Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew in England.
We think this is an interesting project and something for Canada to consider in the future. What are your thoughts?
Special thanks to Miksu, NordGen/Dag Terje Filip Endresen & Subiet for the great photos!