Svalbard Global Seed Vault
The Svalbard Global Seed Vault, to German Global Seed Vault in Svalbard, is a project of the World Trust Fund for crop diversity (English Global Crop Diversity Trust, GCDT ) for long-term storage of seed to protect the species and varieties diversity of crops on Platåberget (Eng. plateau mountain ) near the village of Longyearbyen on the island of Spitsbergen ( Svalbard norw ). Officially, the seed vault is called norwegischerseits Globalt sikkerhetshvelv for frø på Svalbard " global seed vault on the island of Spitsbergen ".
History
On 19 June 2006, the first sod by the Norwegian Minister Jens Stoltenberg was held from Finland, Denmark, Iceland and Sweden in the presence of his Nordic colleagues. In the fall of 2007, the seed bank started its work, the solemn opening of the seed bank was on 26 February 2008 in the presence of international representatives. Up to 4.5 million seed samples (one sample contains 500 seeds, which corresponds to 2.25 billion seeds) are to be stored in the bunker, which should be monitored after completion of the work from Sweden without on-site personnel via remote maintenance.
Operation
To ensure the operation of the seed bank, the GCDT care. Construction costs amounted to nearly 9 million U.S. dollars, which were adopted in large part by the Norwegian government.
The stated goal of the initiative is as complete as possible fiduciary custody of the 21 most important crop species such as rice, maize, wheat, potatoes, apples, cassava, taro or coconut and their varieties. The genetic diversity, which is kept in the seed bank, is valuable material for plant breeding and many areas of basic biological research.
The plant resembles a bunker in an old coal mine reaches 120 meters into, and consists of three halls, each 27 meters long, ten meters wide and six meters high. The warehouses are located 130 meters above the current sea level, ought to remain unscathed by climate change even with a drastic increase. You will be provided with reinforced concrete and two thick steel doors and are thus also a nuclear war or a plane crash withstand. The seed is stored there frozen at -18 ° C. Should turn the cooling system once the permafrost will ensure that the temperature does not exceed -3.5 ° C increases. The shelf life of the seeds is scientific estimates suggest that at these temperatures at about 55 years ( sunflower seeds ) to more than 10,000 years ( pea seeds ). Outdated seeds are constantly refreshed.
Criticism
Experts see risks for the building of global warming. Already in the summer of 2008 thawed permafrost on the input and endangered the statics. The steel shell was deformed and had to be repaired.
Movies
- Seed Warriors - a documentary about the Svalbard Global Seed Vault