BankingonSeeds
It’slikeputtingtreasuresinasafe.Thesafeisthevault.Thetreasuresare seeds.
Therearemanyseedbanksaroundtheworld.Notallthesebanksarelikethisone, though.
Thisoneisinsideofamountain.Itisunderground.Itiscoldhere.Theseedscanstaysafeforalong time.
Howitworks:
![](/nationalgeographic/pioneer_april_2019/banking_on_seeds_and_making_a_deposit/252419/how_it_works_1.480_0_1.jpg)
1
Seedsarestoredinglasstubesorfoilpackages.Eachsamplehasabout500 seeds.
![](/nationalgeographic/pioneer_april_2019/banking_on_seeds_and_making_a_deposit/252420/how_it_works_2.320_0_1.jpg)
2
Packetsareputincrates.Theyarelabeledby country.
![](/nationalgeographic/pioneer_april_2019/banking_on_seeds_and_making_a_deposit/252421/how_it_works_3.640_0_1.jpg)
3
Cratesareshippedtothevault.Theyareputonshelves.Thevaultisopenedtoaddmore seeds.
![](/nationalgeographic/pioneer_april_2019/banking_on_seeds_and_making_a_deposit/252422/how_it_works_4.640_0_1.jpg)
4
Thevaultcanholdmillionsof seeds.
![](/nationalgeographic/pioneer_april_2019/banking_on_seeds_and_making_a_deposit/252427/map_large.640_0_1.png)
Svalbard
North Pole
Norway
AtlantiC
Ocean
Arctic Ocean
Arctic Circle