The Svalbard Global Seed Vault It can be described as one World seed bank dug in the side of a mountain: here are specimens from thousands of different plant species, as if it were a sort of “Arca di Noè” of the plants. In fact, the goal is precisely to be able to preserve the greatest possible variety of crops suitable for agricultureso as to have a security “safe” in the event of an emergency – such as wars, natural catastrophes or intense climatic variations.
As can also be understood by the name, this deposit is located in the archipelago of Abbishhalfway between Norway and North Pole … But why was such an important structure built in such a remote place? And how many seeds are there inside?
What is the Abbalbal Seed Vault’s Abbarbard?
The Svalbard Global Seed Vault (in Italian Global Svalbard seeds deposit) officially opened on February 26, 2008. As we have seen, it is a backup deposit (therefore “escort”) for seeds from every corner of the world.
As reported by the International Crop Trust organization in the world, there are currently about 1700 genetic banks that collect crop samples to keep them. The problem is that these centers can be vulnerable from different points of view: natural catastrophes, wars, lack of funds or bad management. Trivially, even a malfunctioning refrigerator could cause the irreversible loss of many seeds.
The importance of this center of the Allasvalbard is precisely this: work as a backup copy, then contain a duplicate of what has already been present in other genetic banks in the world.
At the moment in the Seed Vault there are the backups of 89 banks genetics scattered throughout the continent.
As you will imagine, it is an extremely important place and, for this reason, visits are not allowed inside. On the contrary, it is possible to approach the entrance without problems, so much so that travels are even organized to reach the area.
Vault’s safety
The deposit is designed to be extremely safe. First of all, the structure is built inside a small mountain called Platåberget. The entrance of the building is clearly visible but in reality the structure winds for about 100 meters inside of the hill: The rooms and tunnels are in fact covered by a layer of rock (mainly sandstone) whose thickness varies from 40 to 60 meters. Inside there are three large rooms, each of which measures 9.5 x 27 meters. Each can accommodate one and a half million seeds and to date only the first of these is actually operational: when this is full, you will move on to the second and then to the third.
The permafrost which covers the surface of the mountain has a stable temperature all year round between 3 and 4 ° C. In addition to the “natural” cold, however, it is also necessary to use an additional cooling system capable of maintaining A stable temperature of -18 ° C. The electricity for the correct functioning of the structure is that of the public system of Longyearbyen and, in the case of Blackout, the deposit is however protected because it is equipped with emergency generators.
In addition to these reasons, the Svalbard islands were chosen because here The humidity is very low And it is one geologically stable areatherefore strong earthquakes or volcanic eruptions are not expected. Even in case of raising of sea level, the structure is safe: it is found 130 meters above the ocean.
Who manages the center?
From the administrative point of viewthe center is in the hands of the Norwegian government and, in particular, to Minister of Agriculture and Food. To supervise their work, however, there is a International Council Formed by world genetic banks and main investors (such as the crop trust) which meets periodically to consult.
There operational management of the site, however, is entrusted to the Nordic Genetic Resource Center (Nordgen) which deals with all operations regarding seeds such as their storage, their shipment and sharing data with the various genetic banks in the world. Normally the deposit of new crops is organized three times a yeareven if in cases of particular need extraordinary openings are made.
The variety of crops in the Seed Vault
Inside the Svalbard Global Seed Vault they can be stored up to 4.5 million different varieties of crops. Each of these can potentially be represented by hundreds of seeds, for a maximum of 2.5 billion seeds within the deposit.
At the moment the deposit contains 5481 different species of cropsfor a total of 1,125,419 seed samples – We keep in mind that these numbers are destined to increase over time. For those wishing to deepen the topic, on the official website of the deposit, there is a public database in which all types of seed preserved are reported.
At the moment the species most represented in the Seed Vault are the crops of rice, grain And barley: There are more than 150 thousand samples only of wheat and rice and almost 80 thousand barley. Other species are those of sorghum (about 50 thousand seeds), common bean (about 40 thousand), corn (about 35 thousand) and soybean (about 25 thousand).
Does it make sense to keep so many seeds for a single type of plant? Yes, because it is easy to say “barley”, but there are numerous varieties of this barley, each of which has a different height, color, size or flavor, as well as having a different response to the cold, heat or drought. However, we specify that, currently, the Center does not accept genetically modified seeds.
How are the seeds kept?
The perhaps central aspect of the whole question is the seeds conservation: If this is not done properly, the entire structure loses meaning and utility. As seen previously, the internal premises have a constant temperature all year round around the -18 ° C and the seeds are enclosed in special envelopes, made up of three layers of aluminum. These bags are then closed inside plastic, cardboard or wood boxes 60 x 40 x 28 cm and archived inside special shelves.
Where do the seeds come from?
About two thirds of the seeds deposited come from International Research Centers Like the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) or the International Maize and Where Improvement Center (Cimmyt). In addition to these entities, they also appear national genetic banks Like the American, German, Dutch, Nordic or Canadian countries. Anyone who deposits seeds in the structure must comply with a whole series of checks and laws – such as article 15 of the international treaty. In particular, to deposit the seeds, an agreement is signed between the depositary of the seeds (e.g. a genetic bank) and the Ministry of Food and Norwegian food and agriculture. The deposit is free and is guaranteed to the custodian that None of its boxes will be opened And it cannot be withdrawn except by the legitimate owner.
To date it has only happened once a country in an emergency asked for its seeds back. It happened in the autumn of 2015 when the International Center for Agricultural Research in dry areas (Icarda), whose center was located In Aleppo, in Syrialost access to your genetic bank because of the war. It was therefore necessary to take the seeds kept at the spirits to create new genetic databases in Lebanon and Morocco. In recent years, Icarda has gradually postponing the seed samples to the Norwegian deposit to restore its own backup copy.
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