BankingonSeeds

Thevaultisalittlelikewhenpeopleputtheirvaluablesinalockedsafetoprotectthem.Inthiscase,thevaluablesare seeds.

Worldwide,morethan1,700banksholdcollectionsoffoodcropsforsafekeeping.Yet,notallthesebanksaresafe.Theycouldbeaffectedbynaturaldisastersorwar.Theycouldsufferfromlackoffunding,poormanagement,orevenlackofpower.Somethingassimpleasabrokenfreezercanruinanentire collection.

NotatSvalbard.Nootherseedbankprotectsitsseedsaswellasthisplace.Partlythat’sbecauseofthewayitwasconstructed.Thevaultisinsideamountain.Eveniftheairsystemweretofail,theseedswouldstaycoldbecausethevaultisunderground.It’spackedinrockandice.Therockthatmakesupthemountainisstable.Thevaultiswellabovesealevel,sothereislessdangerfrom flooding.

Dozensofshelvesineachvaultholdhundredsofboxescontainingseed packets.

vault entrance

control room

security doors

vaults

refrigerators

Here'showitworks:

Seedsusedtobestoredinglasstubes.Nowthey areputinfoilpackagesthatkeepoutmoistureandheat.Eachsamplecontainsabout500 seeds.

Seedpacketsarestoredinlabeledcrates,eachcodedtoitscountryof origin.

Cratesareshippedtotheseedvaultandstoredonshelves.Threetofourtimesayear,thevaultisopenedandnewseedsare added.

Thevaultisdesignedtostoreupto4.5millionseedsamples—that’satotalof2.25billionseeds.Sofar,thevaultholdsmorethanonemillionkindsof seeds.

MakingaDeposit

ThevaultisownedbytheKingdomofNorway.AgroupcalledtheGlobalCropDiversityTrustkeepsthevaultrunning.Itsetsupseedshipmentsfromothercompaniesand countries.

Currently,thisvaultholdsthemostdiversecollectionoffoodcropseedsintheworld.SomecountrieslikeCanadaandIndiahavedepositedmorethan10,000differenttypesofseeds.Others,suchastheRepublicoftheCongo,haveputinfewerthan100typesof seeds.

TheseedvaultislocatedwithintheArctic Circle.

07/06/2024 16:24:24