Interview with a Seed Bank Guardian

Tammy Osborne

Deputy Editor, Whizz Pop Bang Magazine

The Svalbard Global Seed Vault is buried deep in an arctic mountain. I asked Cierra Martin from the Crop Trust what it’s for…

Hi Cierra! So, what is the Global Seed Vault?

The Svalbard Global Seed Vault is a fail-safe seed storage facility that holds the world’s largest collection of seeds from all around the world.

Where is it?

The vault is inside a mountain on a remote island in the Svalbard archipelago, halfway between mainland Norway and the North Pole. Svalbard was chosen because its cold climate makes the area a perfect location for underground cold storage. It scores high marks for security as the island has more polar bears on it than people. It’s also located well above the sea, ensuring it stays safe even in the face of rising sea levels caused by climate change.

What's it for?

Worldwide, more than 1,700 seed banks hold collections of food crop seeds for safekeeping. Yet many of these are vulnerable to natural catastrophes or war. Even something as small as a poorly functioning freezer can ruin an entire collection. The loss of a crop variety is as irreversible as the extinction of a dinosaur. The Svalbard Global Seed Vault serves as a back-up storage facility for the world’s food crops.

How do you know the seeds will be safe there?

The vault was built to last forever, to protect crop diversity so that we have food now and in the future. It is buried 120 metres into the rock, which ensures that its rooms will remain naturally frozen within the mountain even in the event of a mechanical failure or rising external air temperatures.

How many seeds are stored there?

There are over 465 million seeds from every country in the world. So far 73 different seed banks have put seeds inside the vault.

Has anyone ever taken seeds out?

Yes, when war broke out in Syria, the seed bank based there withdrew a selection

of its seeds from Svalbard to re-start its seed bank in two new locations. They used these seeds to begin to regrow their collection, and then returned some of the samples back to Svalbard earlier this year. This story highlights why the seed vault is so important.