Svalbard Doomsday Seed Vault Gets Huge (And Critical) Seed Deposit

The so-called 'doomsday' seed vault located in the Arctic on the small, cold nation of Svalbard has received what is described as a large and major deposit of seeds. According to The Crop Trust, which oversees the vault, the deposit was made on February 22, and is a necessary part in 'ensuring global food security.' Almost 50,000 seeds from countries all around the world were added.

The seeds were sourced from seed collections that were themselves harvested from plants in countries around the world. These countries include both the US and Mexico, the UK, Morocco, Belarus, India and Pakistan, Benin, the Netherlands, Bosnia and more. The seeds, like ones before them, will be stored for a long period of time as a potential way to mitigate future food production problems.

The Global Seed Vault is said to be the largest single collection of seeds in the world, and it represents a huge biodiversity of plants from every corner of the world. The vault contains many duplicates of seeds, and is ready to offer them if the need should arise...and it already has at least once.

While the vault is often portrayed under its 'doomsday' moniker, it isn't just for end-of-world apocalyptic scenarios — it is here to provide access to plants that may end up lost due to war, a natural disaster, or something similar.

Some seeds were withdrawn from the seed bank back in 2015 as a result of the fighting in Syria. The International Center for Agriculture Research in Dry Areas requested the duplicate seeds, wanting to take its work to safer regions. Some of the seeds taken during that time have been given back to the vault in the shipment this month.

SOURCE: Crop Trust