Norway’s Doomsday Seed Vault Hits 1/2 Million Mark

In November 2008, Forced Green posted an article on the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. The “Doomsday Seed Vault” lies 620 miles (1,000 kilometers) from the North Pole, in Norway’s remote Svalbard archipelago, quite literally an Arctic island. The vault complex is designed to withstand global warming, earthquakes and even nuclear strikes. A safeguard against wars or natural disasters wiping out food crops around the globe. A master backup to the world’s other 1,400 seed banks, in case their deposits are lost. A wise move especially in the face of such events as the war wiping out seed banks in Iraq and Afghanistan, and another bank in the Philippines was flooded in the wake of a typhoon in 2006.

Days after celebrating its second anniversary, the trust that oversees the seed collection announced on Thursday (March 11), the vault now houses half a million seed samples, making it the world’s most diverse repository of crop seeds. Since it opened for “deposits” two years ago the facility amassed at least one-third of the world’s crop seeds. Since it opened for “deposits” two years ago the facility amassed at least one-third of the world’s crop seeds (more…)

The Global Seed Vault, opened this year on the far-northern Norwegian island of Spitsbergen, is a backup for the backups. It’s badly needed as around half the seed banks in developing countries are at risk from natural disasters or general instability.

Superman had it right: if you want to keep something safe, build a mountain fortress above the Arctic Circle. That’s the thinking — more or less — behind the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. Almost every nation keeps collections of native seeds so local crops can be replanted in case of an agricultural disaster. The Global Seed Vault, opened this year on the far-northern Norwegian island of Spitsbergen, is a backup for the backups. It’s badly needed — as many as half the seed banks in developing (more…)