Svalbard Global Seed Vault: Protecting Global Crop Diversity Amid Conflict, Climate Change, and International Cooperation

Svalbard Global Seed Vault: Protecting Global Crop Diversity Amid Conflict, Climate Change, and International Cooperation

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Nestled more than eight hundred miles above the Arctic Circle.
The small barred Global Seed Vault, also known as the
Domesday Seed Vault, has been making headlines with pivotal new
deposits and its essential role in preserving global crop diversity
during times of instability. Good Morning America recently reported that
the vault took in notable new deposits, including tree seeds

(00:22):
from Nordic nations and crucial African rice germplasm carried by
the research group Africa Rice. According to the Norwegian government,
these conserved seeds will help future scientists monitor genetic diversity
and adapt vital crops to shifting climates. Among the two
hundred and eighteen lots of Norwegian forest tree seeds added
was a Scott's Pine specimen dating all the way back

(00:44):
to nineteen thirty eight. Nordic countries have united in storing
these genetic resources, ensuring the future health of regionally significant trees.
This wave of deposits is especially important right now. Caliber
News explains that the Seed Vault is being called into
action as war and conflict devastate seed banks from Ukraine

(01:04):
to Sudan, with ongoing battles threatening irreparable losses, scientists are
moving irreplaceable seed collections to small Bard. The Ukrainian National
Center of Plant Genetic Resources, for example, is racing to
secure thousands of unique crop variants as their own facilities
have come under threat, though logistical challenges remain. There is

(01:27):
also good news from the West Bank. The Hebron Seed Bank,
which the Union of Agricultural Work Committees has managed, continues
to operate and recently sent its first batch of local varieties,
including tomatoes, eggplant and cucumber seeds, to Small Bart. Despite
ongoing legal and political disputes involving Israel's classification of the group,

(01:49):
the international community recognizes the immense value in preserving these varieties,
some from one of the original centers of crop domestication.
As agricultural scientists jeffreyh Ha told Caliber, the Hedrin Collection
carries global significance beyond crises. The Seed Vault acts as
a safe haven for unique and ancient varieties. The United

(02:10):
Nations Food and Agriculture Organization shared the story of Georgian
farmers Natia and Schota, who contributed centuries old wheat types
to the vault. Their varieties prized for natural disease resistance
and climate resilience were hand harvested in remote mountain fields.
These samples are now safely secured alongside more than one

(02:31):
point two million seed accessions that the vault currently holds
ensuring that farmer's heritage endoors in the face of modern
threats like climate change and crop disease. Chota said that
knowing his seeds are stored at Smallbard gives him real
confidence for the future. The Crop Trust, a nonprofit working
with the Vault, stresses that genetic diversity is the foundation

(02:54):
of global food security. Their recent updates highlight deposits from
fourteen new gene bands and ongoing international interest in Spalguard storage,
reflecting how important the Vault has become for nations looking
to secure their food supply. The influence of Spalbard extends
beyond plants. Ruggers University's Microbiome Initiative took direct inspiration from

(03:18):
Stalbart to organize a microbial Vault project that aims to
collect and freeze beneficial microbes, providing a microbiotic Noah's Ark
alongside the world's plant backup system. New deposits into the
Seed Vault are scheduled for October nineteen twenty five. Keeping
resource conservation firmly in the headlines at a time when

(03:39):
food supply challenges, political conflict, and climate change are threatening
old and new crop varieties alike, the small Barred Global
Seed Vault serves as a symbol and a reality of
international cooperation, scientific ingenuity, and hope for the future. Thanks
for tuning in to this week's update on the Small
bard Global Seed Vault. Come back next week for more