They have proved simply by their ability to survive in nature for millions of years that they are robust,” says Schmitz. Plants such as these could be key to helping humanity feed growing populations in a warmer world, says Schmitz. Recently, the vault welcomed first-time deposits from Albania, Croatia, North Macedonia and Benin, alongside wild strawberry varieties from a German research institute.
But we need to protect them, secure them and to make sure that they are conserved in perpetuity.” “What is secured inside the vault is one of the most important global public goods we have on Earth. We think that is a general question of transparency and accountability to the broader public,” says Stefan Schmitz, executive director of the Crop Trust. “The virtual tour gives everybody the opportunity to look inside. I’ve been so many times and I’m still curious.” Then you see all of the boxes with seeds from all of these countries. “When you open the door, it’s -18C - the international standard for conserving seeds - which is very, very cold. All you can hear is yourself,” says Lise Lykke Steffensen, executive director of NordGen, which is responsible for the day-to-day operation of the vault. It has high ceilings and when you’re standing inside the mountain, there’s hardly any sound. Scientists say they hope people will learn more about their work through the virtual tour - without running the risk of falling prey to a polar bear. Invasive species, pests, changes in rainfall patterns and rampant biodiversity loss are studied, and it opens three times a year to accept new deposits from other seed banks around the world. The seeds could hold answers to agricultural challenges posed by the climate crisis. The deep freeze, designed to last forever, is co-managed by the Norwegian government, the Crop Trust and NordGen, the gene bank of the Nordic countries.
Now, to celebrate the vault’s 15th anniversary, everyone is invited on a virtual tour to see inside the vast collection of tubers, rice, grains and other seeds buried deep in the mountain behind five sets of metal doors. The Global Seed Vault in the Norwegian Arctic, which opened in 2008, is closed to the public and shrouded in mystery, the subject of numerous internet doomsday conspiracy theories. It is a monument to 12,000 years of human agriculture that aims to prevent the permanent loss of crop species after war, natural disaster or pandemic. Surrounded by snow, ice and the occasional polar bear, the facility houses 1.2 million seed samples from every corner of the planet as an insurance policy against catastrophe.
Jutting out of the permafrost on a mountainside on Spitsbergen, in the Svalbard archipelago, the entrance to the world’s “doomsday” seed vault is worthy of any James Bond movie. This story was originally published by The Guardian and appears here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration.
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