What’s Inside the Svalbard ‘Doomsday Vault’?
Almost every science fiction movie has some kind of ‘doomsday vault’ – an impregnable structure filled with the most important knowledge from humanity’s history, safe from disaster. In real life, that exists in the Svalbard archipelago, in Norway. Known as the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, this secure facility has been safeguarding the world’s most important seeds since 2008.
What is the Svalbard Global Seed Vault?
The Svalbard Global Seed Vault is the world’s largest collection of crop diversity, consisting of more than a million sample-sized packets of seeds from all over the world, held in an underground bunker built over 100 meters inside a mountain in the Svalbard archipelago. The main purpose of the Vault is to serve as an insurance policy against potential global disasters that could wipe out certain crops and cause serious food shortages.
The Vault was built by the Norwegian government in 2008 with funding from various non-profit organizations, research institutions, and the Global Crop Diversity Trust. Access to the Vault is tightly controlled. Only a few authorized scientists are allowed to go inside the facility to perform maintenance and replenish the collection.
What is the Significance of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault?
The Svalbard Global Seed Vault serves an important role in preserving crop diversity and mitigating food shortages. Seeds are held in the Vault for long-term storage, ensuring that they are safe from natural or human-made disasters, including environmental or political crises, or even changes in climate.
In the event of a disaster, the seeds stored in the Vault can be used to restore any lost or degraded crops. As many of the samples stored in the Vault are not available anywhere else, they provide an important backup if a crop is wiped out elsewhere.
What Types of Seeds are Stored in the Seed Vault?
The Vault contains a wide variety of crop seeds, covering many species of plants, both domesticated and wild. Some of the more common types of seeds include cereals, legumes, vegetables and fruits. There are also numerous varieties of rare and heirloom seeds, which are valued for their unique traits and flavors, as well as for purposes of crop research and development.
The collection is constantly expanding, as new communities from various parts of the world send in their seeds for storage in the Vault.
How are the Seeds Stored in the Vault?
The Vault’s structure consists of three large chambers, with each chamber measuring about 135 square meters. Each of these chambers is lined with reinforced steel walls and divided into rows of storage shelves. The shelves are then filled with sample-sized packets of seeds, each wrapped in aluminum foil and enclosed in glass containers.
To further secure the seeds, the Vault is designed to remain buried under permafrost, which helps to keep the temperature inside the Vault at a steady -18C. An airtight seal around the outside of the facility also prevents moisture from getting inside and damaging the seeds.
How Does the Management of the Vault Work?
The Global Crop Diversity Trust is responsible for the management and maintenance of the Vault. The Trust works with governments, genebanks and other partners to ensure samples taken from the Vault remain secure and available for future use.
The Trust also works to raise awareness about the importance of crop diversity and the need for secure seed storage facilities.
The Svalbard Global Seed Vault is a unique facility that serves an important function in preserving crop diversity and mitigating any potential food shortages. It houses over a million sample-sized packets of seeds from all over the world, offering a secure backup in the event of a disaster.
The Vault is constantly growing as new communities send in their seeds for storage, ensuring that vital crop diversity remains safe for generations to come.