Svalbard Global Seed Vault: The “Noah’s Ark of Plant Diversity” protecting the world’s seed resources

Svalbard Global Seed Vault, otherwise known as the “Noah’s Ark of Plant Diversity”, is home to what is quite possibly the world’s most important treasures – seeds.

Deep inside a mountain on a remote island in the Svalbard archipelago, halfway between mainland Norway and the North Pole, lies the Global Seed Vault. The Global Seed Vault isn’t just a large storage facility for seeds from around the world, but it is protecting the world’s agricultural genetic diversity and protecting future food supply in case of built to stand the test of time and the challenge of natural or man-made disasters.

The Svalbard archipelago, the furthest north reachable on a scheduled flight, was chosen for the vault’s location because it is remote, there are no volcanoes or earthquakes, and the permafrost keeps the seeds in deep-freeze. Svalbard Global Seed Vault’s remote location is 130 metres above sea level, and benefits from permafrost…