Svalbard Global Seed Vault
Hello blogmasters, this first-ish real FDF posting about the Svalbard Global Seed Vault isn't exactly news but it would have been if we'd posted it over a year ago when we were really excited about it. Regardless, it represents brilliant, necessary, long-term thinking from our good friends the Norwegians.
"Ensuring that the genetic diversity of the world’s food crops is preserved for future generations is an important contribution toward reduction of hunger and poverty in developing countries. This is where the greatest plant diversity originates and where the need for food security and the further development of agriculture is most urgent.
"The loss of biological diversity is currently one of the greatest challenges facing the environment and sustainable development. The diversity of food crops is under constant pressure. The consequence could be an irreversible loss of the opportunity to grow crops adapted to climate change, new plant diseases and the needs of an expanding population."The Svalbard Global Seed Vault, which is currently being established in the permafrost in the mountains of Svalbard, is designed to store duplicates of seeds from seed collections from around the globe. Many of these collections from developing countries are in developing countries. If seeds are lost, e.g. as a result of natural disasters, war or simply a lack of resources, the seed collections may be reestablished using seeds from Svalbard."
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