Svalbard Seed Vault Expands Global Seed Collection Amid Climate Crisis, Preserving Biodiversity for Future Generations

Svalbard Seed Vault Expands Global Seed Collection Amid Climate Crisis, Preserving Biodiversity for Future Generations

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Listeners. Here is the latest round up on the Small
Barred Global Seed Vault, often called the Doomsday Seed Vault,
with new developments making headlines in twenty twenty five. Located
more than thirteen hundred kilometers above the Arctic Circle on
the Norwegian island of Spitzbergen, the Small Barred Global Seed
Vault remains the largest and most secure facility for preserving

(00:21):
the seeds of crop plants from around the world. Its
main mission is to serve as a global insurance policy
against catastrophes that threaten the biodiversity of global crops. This
remarkable project continues to attract headlines due to its growing
importance as the climate crisis deepens. In July twenty twenty five,

(00:42):
the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations highlighted
that new seeds from Georgia had been deposited at the vault.
Building on the efforts to maintain food heritage and biodiversity.
Farmers and scientists from around the world have been increasingly
engaged in these efforts, and indigenous leadership in climate action
is now one of the priorities. As noted by the FAO,

(01:06):
These international collaborations helped to secure thousands of unique seed
varieties for future generations. Emphasizing the critical need for genetic
diversity in the face of climate stress. The Norwegian government
has been leading with national action plans focusing not only
on agricultural crops, but also on forest trees, aiming to

(01:27):
conserve their unique gene polls. Africa Rise, a pan African
intergovernmental research association, announced this year that seeds representing Africa's
largest rice collection were recently shipped to Oslo and then
on to Stalbard. Their goal is to conserve African rice
varieties forever, ensuring these foundational crops remain available for scientific

(01:49):
research even if lost elsewhere. The vault continues to welcome
seeds from around the world, including the first deposits of
major Nordic forest trees like Norway spruce and Scott's from Sweden, Finland, Denmark,
Iceland and Norway. Some of these samples, like a Norwegian
pine seed from nineteen thirty eight, represent almost a century

(02:10):
of botanical history, all now safely preserved within Stalbard's chambers.
Each deposit follows strict protocols. Seeds sent to Svalbard are
vacuum packed and sealed aluminum bags to protect against oxygen
and moisture, then placed in solid black storage containers within
the vault's three subterranean chambers. The vault is kept at

(02:31):
minus eighteen degrees celsius because it sits inside permafrost frozen mountains.
Even severe power outages would not result in a total thaw,
giving extra security against natural and man made disasters. However,
climate change is producing new challenges for Svalbard. In twenty
twenty four, Svalbard experienced record melting ice. As documented by

(02:54):
researchers at the University of Oslo and New Scientist magazine.
Svalbard lost about but one percent of its total ice
in just six weeks, a historic and alarming event. This
raises concerns for the long term safety of the vault itself,
especially as it was engineered for conditions anticipated two centuries

(03:14):
into the future. While no seeds have been threatened so far,
officials are closely monitoring the situation and considering additional climate
proofing as insurance. In a fascinating side note, the small
barred region is fast becoming a global data and heritage
backup center. The nearby Arctic Code Vault by GitHub stores

(03:35):
open source code for posterity and in twenty twenty two,
construction began on an archive for the world's music in
the region's mountains. The area is now known as the

(04:07):
Last Vault of Humanity. In some circles, there is even
an Oreo Cookie Vault, considered a quirky sibling project. The
small Barred Global Seed Vault is not only a lifeline
for humankind against apocalypse, but also a beacon of global cooperation.
It relies on the trust of nations, as only Norway's
neutral position made such a truly international deposit system possible.

(04:32):
More than one point one million seed samples are safeguarded there,
with new deposits and improvements every year, making headlines as
nations and scientists respond to today's urgencies. That wraps up
the latest from this Falbarred Global Seed Vault. Thank you
for tuning in listeners. Come back next week for more
updates and engaging global stories.