This week’s first shipment of forest species seeds was accepted by the Svalbard Doomsday Vault. It is a seed bank located on Spitsbergen in Norway. The vault can be found just 810 mile (1 km), from the North Pole. It is also known as the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. This vault is located inside a mountain and is built to withstand almost all natural and human disasters. Its purpose is to protect a variety of plants seeds, which are copies (or spare copies) of the seeds stored in global gene banks. This will help to prevent loss in case of regional or global disasters. Global Crop Diversity Trust, the Nordic Genetic Resource Center and the Norwegian Government manage the seed vault. Deep within a mountain is the Svalbard Doomsday Vault. It can survive almost any man-made or natural disaster, according to scientists. The vault has received samples of Norway spruce, Scots pine and other species. The Global Crop Diversity Trust announced that thousands of seeds representing almost every country in the globe will be placed in the vault during this week. These seeds have come from all corners of the world, from Benin in West Africa up to the Rocky Mountains. They will now be added to the 839,000 sample already there. Only the United States deposit contains seeds from around 150 countries. Spanning 12,000 years of agricultural history Every seed preserved in the vault has its own story, part of almost 12,000 years of agricultural heritage. Benin will send Oryza Glaberrima to Benin, which is a species of rice that was first domesticated in an inland river delta by the River Niger over 3 ,500years ago. Global Crop Diversity Trust stated in a statement that “Depositing the seeds in Svalbard ensures their rich genetic resource.” For repopulation, it is important to preserve native species. In the USA, for example, there’s a stronger focus on ensuring that there is enough native seed varieties to support restoration efforts after natural disasters like wildfires or floods. Parliamentary State Secretary at the German Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Peter Bleser, who was at the Vault during the deposit said: “The work of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault and the Crop Trust to conserve crop diversity here in the arctic cold and across the world is essential for the success of agriculture in the future.” “I am proud to say that the Federal Republic of Germany has sent more than 40,000 samples of crops to the Seed Vault and continues to support the work of the Global Crop Diversity Trust.” Seed Curator at the United States Department of Agriculture, Dr. Stephanie Greene, said: “Preserving crop diversity – the wonderful plant genetic resources that live and grow in our own backyard – is an area where we can really make a difference.” “Working in partnership with the Crop Trust, the USDA is able to have a ‘back-up for our back-up’. We already have 69,000 accessions safely stored in the Seed Vault at Svalbard. The latest shipment adds nearly 20,000 more, from around 650 species, including a large proportion of varieties unique to the US. Svalbard now houses almost 20% the whole US collection. “This partnership ensures that these resources remain accessible for future generations.” Video: The Seed Vault. Professor Cary Fowler is the former executive director at the Global Crop Diversity Trust. He tells us the story about Global Crop Diversity, the seed vault, and how it came to be.
