Banking on Seeds
It’s like putting treasures in a safe. The safe is the vault. The treasures are seeds.
There are many seed banks around the world. Not all these banks are like this one, though.
This one is inside of a mountain. It is underground. It is cold here. The seeds can stay safe for a long time.
How it works:
1
Seeds are stored in glass tubes or foil packages. Each sample has about 500 seeds.
2
Packets are put in crates. They are labeled by country.
3
Crates are shipped to the vault. They are put on shelves. The vault is opened to add more seeds.
4
The vault can hold millions of seeds.
Shelves hold hundreds of boxes of seed packets.
vault entrance
control room
security doors
vaults
refrigerators
The seed vault is inside the Arctic Circle.
Svalbard
North Pole
Norway
AtlantiC
Ocean
Arctic Ocean
Arctic Circle