Svalbard Global Seed Vault

While the latest report from the Panel on Climate Change threatens with global heating a modern Noah’s Arc is being built way up in the North

Entrance to the vault

Next year the Svalbard Global Seed Vault opens as a fail-safe repository of the world's vital food crops. Engineers, who are building the facility on the Svalbard archipelago, began the cooling operation this week that over the next two months will bring the temperature of the sandstone rock surrounding the seed vault from its current -5 degrees Celsius down to -18 degrees Celsius. The vault is to be officially opened 26 February 2007.

- It's very satisfying to see the vault evolve from a bold concept to an impressive facility that has everything we need to protect our crop biodiversity, said Mr. Terje Riis-Johansen, Norway's Minister of Agriculture and Food.

- The seed vault is the perfect place for keeping seeds safe for centuries, said Cary Fowler, Executive Director of the Rome-based Global Crop Diversity Trust, which has partnered with Norway and the Nordic Gene Bank on the establishment of the vault. - At these temperatures, seeds for important crops like wheat, barley and peas can last for up to 1000 years.

With its capacity to hold up to 4.5 million seed samples, the vault will eventually house virtually every variety of almost every important food crop in the world. The vast collection is intended as a hedge against disaster so that food production can be restarted anywhere on the planet should it be threatened by a regional or global catastrophe. Thus, it is critical that the vault have the technical capability to keep seeds cool and viable for a long period of time.

The installation utilizes multiple pieces of highly polished sheet metal installed along the roof and front of the portal to serve as reflectors. They are placed so they will sparkle in the Arctic "midnight sun" of the summer months, and will make use of fibre-optics for lighting during the long Arctic winters.

- We really want this facility to inspire, to stand out as a highly visible monument to the often obscure but very important mission of conserving humanity's agriculture heritage, said Mr. Terje Riis-Johansen.