Nestled deep within the permafrost of the Arctic Svalbard lies a unique stone building safeguarding the future of agriculture and biodiversity. The global Svalbard Seed Vault, often known as the “Doomsday Vault,” is currently the home of 1.1 million seed varieties. This vault serves as a fail-safe against the loss of the world’s agriculture due to natural disasters, war, or other catastrophes.
Operated by the Nordic Genetic Resource Center, the seed vault opened in 2008. Its location is approximately 1300 km (about 807.78 mi) from the north pole, and it goes 100 meters (about the length of a football field) into the mountain it lives in.
The vault has unmatched security against both natural and man-made threats. It’s strategically placed in the arctic because that’s the farthest north a person can travel on a scheduled flight, making the location nearly inaccessible. It’s also placed far above the ocean so the tides cannot take it.
The permafrost and thick walls provide natural refrigeration, making it –18 degrees inside the vault. This ensures the seed samples will stay frozen even without power. The seeds are stored in custom-made three-ply foil packages which are sealed inside boxes and put on shelves in the vault. Each packet contains 500 seeds.
The vault can store 4.5 million varieties of crops but up to 2.5 billion seeds. The number is still growing as the vault only has 1.1 million seeds currently, such as, maize, rice, wheat, cowpea, sorghum, eggplant, barley, lettuce, potato, etc.
The primary use of the vault is to preserve the genetic diversity of our planet’s crops. It accomplishes this by storing duplicates of seeds from across the world. By doing this, the Svalbard Seed Vault ensures that future generations have access to crop varieties capable of adapting to environmental conditions, such as climate change and pests.
The seeds are stored under “black box conditions,” meaning the depositors are the only ones who can withdraw their own seeds. When the seeds are deposited, legal ownership is not changed.
If you would like to help the Svalbard Seed Vault, you cannot give seeds to them, but you can donate money to the organization. If you have seeds you would like to save you can contact your national gene bank and discuss securing your seeds there.
