Global Seed Vault opens 2/26/08

Author: Beth
Posted: February 25th, 2008 @ 2:50pm
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Last year at Pop!Tech, Cary Fowler, Executive Director of the Global Crop Diversity Trust, spoke of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Norway. February 26 marks the official opening of the “Doomsday Vault,” as it has come to be called. It is intended to protect the Earth’s crop diversity against gradual or catastrophic losses. Sited deep inside a wild Arctic mountain in Norway, seeds from around the world will be mechanically cooled to -20 degrees, which will keep seeds alive for up to 19,000 years. To ensure that developing nations can participate in this important seed bank, The Global Crop Diversity Trust is providing funding so that a diversity of all crops will be secure forever – even in the event of an asteroid or nuclear disaster.

Link to a video about the Seed Vault on the National Geographic website.

To read about specific crop strategies, regional strategies, or to make a donation to this effort, visit http://www.croptrust.org.

Also, last week, the BBC World’s Earth Report aired a documentary about the vault. To read the transcript and watch the video, click here.

Entrance to Global Seed Vault