Halfway between Norway and the North Pole, the Svalbard archipelago is home to the largest seed storage center in the world. Supposed to allow a wide variety of plants to germinate in the event of an apocalypse, it is now virtually open to the public.
What would we do if tomorrow, a natural disaster were to decimate all animal and plant species on the planet ? The fact is that scientists have already looked into the matter, in order to offer populations something to survive in the event of a glitch. And some have even found the parade. In the Arctic Ocean, on the island of Svalbard, an imposing metal gate secretly guards the largest reserve of food crops in the world. Fruit of 15,000 years of agriculture, this priceless treasure is carefully buried under the permafrost, and guess what : it can be visited !
One million samples from around the world
The Svalbard Global Seed Vault, this huge concrete bunker built in the deserted immensity of ice, stands facing the sea. In boxes stacked inside, all the genebanks of the world can store duplicates of their seeds to ensure the world's food supply in the future. And to celebrate the centre's 15th anniversary, the NordGen company (Nordic gene bank) and the NGO Crop Trust are offering the curious a free virtual tour.
As in a real visit, a guide provides you with all the information you need at each new stage point. Just behind the gate of the center, researchers store all new shipments, to check their condition, label them, before storing them safely in the seed vault, which contains more than a million samples. Then, 120 meters further, you enter "the cathedral": these three storage rooms designed to house 3,000 boxes of seeds, i.e. a fine collection of 4.5 million plant varieties.
Safeguard global food security
Once deposited in the vault, the seeds (stored at –18°C) remain the property of the gene banks that deposited them, like a bank safe. As the virtual assistant indicates, these seeds can survive in freezing conditions for centuries, provided they have been properly prepared and stored. This ultra-secure giant freezer provides protection against variety loss, in case the original samples are lost due to natural disasters, armed conflict, mismanagement or any other circumstances related to climate change.
In 2015, for example, the blocking of an important gene bank in Aleppo during the conflict in Syria forced the International Center for Agricultural Research in Arid Zones to come and recover their inventory of seeds kept under ice since 2012, to then replant them. in Lebanon and Morocco, in order to replenish their stock. A first withdrawal since the opening of the center in February 2008, which provides concrete proof of the interest of this mission. According to Crop Trust, there are 1,700 seed banks around the world, but the vault of Svalbard, isolated from all forms of threats (pandemic, conflicts, drought), offers a much better chance of conservation.
Click Here To Visit Svalbard the largest seed storage center in the world.
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