More than 14,000 seed samples from 21 genebanks have been deposited in the remote Svalbard Global Seed Vault, a “doomsday vault” in the far reaches of northern Norway. The vault has been built to ensure food security in the wake of disaster and other environmental impacts.
The Svalbard Global Seed Vault preserves more than 1.3 million samples in what is the world’s most secure stash of seeds. The seed storage area itself is located more than 100 meters inside the mountain, and under layers of rock that range between 40 and 60 meters thick.
This week’s deposit in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault marks a key milestone in international collaboration. It concludes the safety duplication phase of the Biodiversity for Opportunities, Livelihoods and Development (BOLD) project, a decade-long initiative funded by Norway and managed by the Crop Trust. The BOLD project supported 42 partners globally, helping them create backup collections for their genebanks. Ten of these partners will attend the ceremony in Svalbard.
“The seeds deposited this week represent not just biodiversity, but also the knowledge, culture and resilience of the communities that steward them,” said Executive Director Stefan Schmitz of the Crop Trust, which operates the Svalbard vault alongside the Norwegian government and NordGen. This deposit also represents the 66th contribution to the vault, which has stored seeds from 123 genebanks in 85 countries since its opening in 2008.
Seed deposits from Sudan, Philippines and Malawi
Among these samples are vital varieties of sorghum and pearl millet from Sudan’s crop genebank, a collection nearly destroyed during the country’s civil war, “velvet beans” from Malawi that support both sustainable agriculture and traditional medicine, critical food crops from a Philippine genebank that has been ravaged by typhoons and fires and a major collection of more than 3,000 varieties of rice, beans and maize from Brazil. The total of 14,022 new samples included seeds of Nordic tree species from Sweden and rice from Thailand.
Sudan is depositing seed samples of 15 species, including many varieties of sorghum, which has been cultivated for thousands of years, is deeply tied to Sudanese cultural heritage. “In Sudan, where conflict has displaced more than eight million people and disrupted agriculture, these seeds represent hope,” said Ali Babikar, director of Sudan’s Agricultural Plant Genetic Resources Conservation and Research Centre (APGRC).
“Sudan is securing their collections in Svalbard, ensuring that their agricultural heritage is protected from the threats of climate change, conflict and loss,” said Lise Lykke Steffensen, executive director of NordGen, the Nordic countries’ genebank and knowledge center for genetic resources, which supported Sudan’s deposit.
Another important deposit this week is coming from the Philippines, where extreme events have already destroyed some of the nation’s seed stocks. “The rapid loss of genetic diversity in the field and loss of diversity in our diets make conservation and accessibility more important than ever,” said Hidelisa De Chavez of the University of the Philippines, adding that crop diversity “is the backbone of agriculture around the world.”
Malawi’s contribution included velvet beans, the crop enables farmers to boost production and keep their soils healthy, while also offering important medicinal benefits. “Crop diversity reduces the risk of food crises at local, regional, sub-regional and global levels,” said Nolipher Mponya, an agricultural research scientist who works for the government of Malawi. “By conserving crop diversity, we are protecting the future of our foods. We are also maintaining the genes for crop improvement, feed and habitat for pollinators and ensuring the direct and indirect health and economic benefits from these crops.”
Key facts about Svalbard Global Seed Vault
- Svalbard Global Seed Vault, the world’s most secure stash of seeds, was opened by the Norwegian Government in February 2008.
- The seed vault is located way up north, in the permafrost, 1300 kilometers beyond the Arctic Circle.
- Seeds are sent from all over the world to this vault for safe and secure long-term storage in cold and dry rock vaults.
- The Svalbard Global Seed Vault preserves more than 1.3 million samples.