The situation is challenging, but definitely manageable, says Communications Director Hege Njaa Aschim of Statsbygg, the Norwegian state’s managing body for the vault. The world’s global seed bank was established and opened in 2008. Some technical improvements are needed after nine years of operations. Exploring the inside of Svalbard Global Seed Vault & facts about humanity's preparation for doomsday, which could potentially save mankind. The reason for this is that the permafrost has not established as expected, according to a press statement from Statsbygg. But will that be enough to keep the doomsday vault safe. Statsbygg has entered into an agreement with a counseling company, and this company is to suggest various measures to improve the access tunnel to the vault. The Global Seed Vault was designed as a back-up plan for humanity in the case of an apocalyptic. They are to survey and suggest possible solutions for resisting increased amounts of water following a wetter and warmer climate on Svalbard. One proposal resembles the doomsday seed vault which opened this year in Norway. Olav Olsen company has been awarded the contract for surveying different prospects for improving the access tunnel to the seed vault. Only instead of plant seed, the amphibian vault would store sperm, guaranteeing amphibian genetic diversity for. Long-term increasing of security is the goal. Snøhetta, Instanes Polar, Erichsen & Horgen, NGI and ECT are sub-advisors for the project. Hege Njaa Aschim says to High North News that neither the seeds nor the vault in which they are placed are endangered. However, there has been some water seeping in to the access tunnel last fall. It has expedited the improvement plans for the tunnel, and we are working on these as we speak. The challenges escalated last fall, when extreme weather led to more extensive water intrusions. Don’t panic, humanity’s ‘doomsday’ seed vault is probably still safe. We have not seen the same since, Njaa Aschim says.Īt present, diversion ditches for melt water are dug to lead it away from the entrance area of the seed vault, a measure also meant to keep rainwater from accumulating in front of the entrance. Journalists gather near the entrance to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Longyearbyen, Norway, on Feb. 14 million NOK have been allocated to surveying and engineering, and the expert group is to prepare a proposal by spring 2018. This is the world's largest and most diverse collection of crop diversity.įor more details, read the news article from the Crop Trust.The measures are part of a long-term plan to secure the seed vault further, based on a precautionary attitude, according to the Statsbygg press statement. The Seed Vault now has 1,145,862 seed samples of nearly 6,000 plant species from 89 genebanks around the world. The largest deposit of 6,336 seed samples was made by the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) from its genebank in Morocco, bringing their total holding in the Seed Vault to more than 100,000 seed samples, close to what it was before the Center withdrew seeds from the Seed Vault back in 2015, 2017, and 2019 to reestablish its genebank collection. The IPK deposit includes samples of wheat collected in the Austrian Alpine region in the 1920s-one of the oldest collections at the genebank. The deposit includes seeds that were not previously represented in the Seed Vault, including nearly 100 forage species from the Australian Pastures Genebank and 50 crop species from the Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK), Germany. Sandra Borch, Minister of Agriculture and Food, and Anne Beathe Tvinnereim, Minister of International Development were present when thousands of seed samples were secured in the Seed Vault. Two Norwegian ministers participated in this year's first opening of the Seed Vault. On February 14, 2022, the Svalbard Global Seed Vault has received 20,443 seed samples in 39 boxes from 10 genebanks all around the globe as the year's first deposit.
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