![]() ![]() The Nordic Gene Bank (NordGen) will operate the facility and maintain a public on-line database of samples stored in the seed vault. An International Advisory Council will oversee the management and operations of the Seed Vault. Its cold climate and permafrost make the area a perfect location for underground cold storage. The surrounding sandstone is stable for building and is low in radiation. In terms of security, Svalbard scores high marks compared to the locations of many other genebanks in the world. The infrastructure is good, with daily flights and a reliable source of energy from local coal supplies. The vault is located an extraordinary 120 metres (393.7 feet) into the rock, ensuring that the vault rooms will remain naturally frozen even in the event of failure of the mechanical cooling system and rising external air temperatures due to climate change. The Kingdom of Norway spent approximately US$9 million. The distance from the front door of the portal building to the back of the vault is approximately 145.9 metres (478.7 feet). The width of the each vault is approximately 9.5 to 10 metres (31.2 to 32.8 feet) and the height is 6 metres (19.7 feet). What is the name of the mountain housing the seed vault? Each vault is approximately 27 metres (88.6 feet) long. How many seeds will be stored in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault? The mountain housing the Seed Vault is called "Platåberget," or "plateau mountain" in English. The Seed Vault has the capacity to store 4.5 million seed samples. Each sample contains an average count of 500 seeds, so a maximum of 2.25 billion seeds can be stored in the facility. The collection and storage of seeds will continue for some time. When just half of the first of three vault rooms is filled, it will hold the world’s largest collection of seeds. The seeds will be stored at minus 18 degrees Celsius (minus 0.4 degrees Fahrenheit). The seeds will be sealed in specially-designed four-ply foil packages that will be placed in sealed boxes and stored on shelves inside the vault. The low temperature and moisture level will ensure low metabolic activity, keeping the seeds viable for decades, centuries, or in some cases thousands of years. The permafrost will still ensure the continued viability of the seeds if the electricity supply should fail. ![]() Who will own the seeds in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault?ĭepositors will retain ownership rights over the seeds sent to the facility. What type of seeds may be stored in the Seed Vault? The boxes with seeds will be sealed by the depositors and will not be distributed to or given access to by anyone other than the depositors. Priority will be given to crops that are important for food production and sustainable agriculture. The facility will start with receiving security collections of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) and certain key national genebanks. The focus will be on safeguarding as much of the world’s unique genetic material as possible and avoiding duplication. "This whole idea of the seed vault builds on trust," she said.Why is the Seed Vault important to developing countries?įood security is a challenge in many developing countries. Ms Haga said the vault upgrade would deliver a fully waterproof vault to store the world's seeds. "We've had a bit of water in the tunnel leading into the rooms where we've had the seeds, but far away from the seeds." Loading. "The seeds in the vault have never, ever been at any kind of threat," said Maria Haga, executive director of the global Crop Trust, one of three organisations that manage the vault. That has resulted in water getting into the access tunnel, which runs from the surface under a mountain to the vault. "Climate change has disturbed the permafrost and we didn't have it re-established as we anticipated when we constructed the facility in 2008." "In Svalbard we have observed climate change over quite a few years now, and what happens is the temperature gets higher and we get more snow and rain than we have had before," said Synnove Sandberg, director of the Norwegian state-owned construction company Statsbygg, which is carrying out the repair work. The Global Seed Vault stores seeds from 40 per cent of plant species around the world. ![]()
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