Gerrard Kaonga
Preparation for a crisis can be the difference between success and failure, and thankfully there is a vault that may prove paramount in the survival of our species.
A hidden vault in a frozen landscape located in a secluded island near the Arctic Circle... Yep, that certainly sounds like something straight out of a typical action film.
But the vault with a crucial job actually does exist and it resides in Norway.
This 'doomsday vault' is hidden away in small archipelago Svalbard, between mainland Norway and the North Pole.
Advert
Though if a global crisis hit, I wouldn’t pack your bags for Europe just yet.
The Svalbard Global Seed Vault on the archipelago is surrounded by glaciers and frozen tundra and houses seeds, if the name didn’t already give it away.
The project is managed by the Norwegian government, the Crop Trust non-profit organization and the Nordic Genetic Resource Center
According to the Crop Trust website: "The Seed Vault safeguards duplicates of 1,214,827 seed samples from almost every country in the world, with room for millions more. Its purpose is to backup genebank collections to secure the foundation of our future food supply."
The page also explains why the storage of millions of seeds can ensure the future of humanity, should anything cause the world to fall into disarray.
“Worldwide, more than 1,700 genebanks hold collections of food crops for safekeeping, yet many of these are vulnerable, exposed not only to natural catastrophes and war, but also to avoidable disasters, such as lack of funding or poor management. Something as mundane as a poorly functioning freezer can ruin an entire collection,” the page explained.
“And the loss of a crop variety is as irreversible as the extinction of a dinosaur, animal or any form of life. The Seed Vault stores duplicates (backups) of seed samples from the world’s crop collections as a safeguard against such catastrophic loss.
Knowing there is a plan for emergency food in a politically and militarily tense world certainly does offer some comfort.
The website also explained some of the reasons why this remote area was chosen for such a crucial project.
Most notably Svalbard is the farthest north a person can fly on a scheduled flight, making it accessible but also remote. While the entrance is visible, the facility stretches more than 100 meters into the mountain. The trust also explained the facility is well above sea level and humidity is low making it good conditions for the seeds.