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Rendered visualisation of the Seed Vault
Rendered visualisation of the Seed Vault
Design of the Seed Vault as of early 2007
Design of the Seed Vault as of early 2007

The Svalbard Global Seed Vault is located on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen near the town of Longyearbyen (population 2,075)[1] in the remote Arctic Svalbard archipelago. Spitsbergen (formerly known as West Spitsbergen, and sometimes misspelled Spitzbergen) is a Norwegian island the largest Island of the Longyearbyen is the Administrative centre of Svalbard and is located on Spitsbergen, the largest island of the Svalbard Archipelago. The Arctic is the Region around the Earth 's North Pole, opposite the Antarctic region around the South Pole. Svalbard is an Archipelago in the Arctic Ocean north of mainland Europe, about midway between Norway and the North Pole. An archipelago (ɑrkəˈpɛləgoʊ is a chain or cluster of Islands The word archipelago literally means "chief Sea " from Italian The island is about 1,120 kilometres (700 mi) from the North Pole. A mile is a unit of Length, usually used to measure Distance, in a number of different systems including Imperial units United States The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is subject to the caveats explained below defined as the point in the northern

The Seed Vault is managed under terms spelled out in a tripartite agreement between the Norwegian government, the Global Crop Diversity Trust (GCDT) and the Nordic Genetic Resource Center (previously named the Nordic Gene Bank, a cooperative effort of the Nordic countries under the Nordic Council of Ministers). Politics of Norway takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic Constitutional monarchy. Global Crop Diversity Trust is an independent international organisation which exists to ensure the conservation and availability of crop diversity for Food security worldwide The Nordic Council and the Nordic Council of Ministers is an intergovernmental forum for co-operation between the Nordic countries.

The GCDT has played a key role in the planning of the Seed Vault and is coordinating shipments of seed samples to the Vault in conjunction with the Nordic Genetic Resource Center. The Trust will provide most of the annual operating costs for the facility, and has set aside endowment funds to do so, while the Norwegian government will finance upkeep of the structure itself. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has provided approximately $750,000 to assist developing countries and international agricultural research centers to package and ship seeds to the Seed Vault. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (B&MGF is the largest transparently operated Private foundation in the world founded by Bill and Melinda An International Advisory Council is being established to provide guidance and advice. It will include representatives from the FAO, the CGIAR, the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources and other institutions. The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR was originally created at the initiative of the Rockefeller Foundation, which had sponsored international

Construction of the Seed Vault (which cost approximately $9 million) was funded entirely by the Government of Norway. Operational costs will be paid by Norway and the Global Crop Diversity Trust. The primary funders of the Trust are the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the U. K. , Norway, Australia, Switzerland and Sweden, though funding has been received from a wide variety of sources including four developing countries: Brazil, Colombia, Ethiopia, and India. [2]

Contents

Construction

The prime ministers of Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, and Iceland participated in a ceremonial "laying of the first stone" on 19 June 2006. This article is about the government position For other uses see Prime Minister (disambiguation. This is a list of viceroys ( visekonge) governors ( rigsstatholder) first ministers ( førstestatsråd) and Prime ministers ( statsminister) of The Prime Minister (statsminister literally "Minister of the State" is the Head of government in Sweden. The Prime Minister (pääministeri Swedish: statsminister) is the Head of Government of Finland. The Prime Minister of Denmark (statsminister is the Head of government in Danish politics. The Prime Minister of Iceland (Forsætisráðherra Íslands is Iceland 's Head of government. Events 1179 - The Norwegian Battle of Kalvskinnet outside Nidaros. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar.

The seedbank is constructed 120 metres (394 ft) inside a sandstone mountain at Svalbard on Spitsbergen Island. A seedbank stores Seeds as a source for planting in case seed reserves elsewhere are destroyed A foot (plural feet or foot; symbol or abbreviation ft or sometimes &prime – the prime symbol) is a non-SI unit Sandstone is a Sedimentary rock composed mainly of Sand -size Mineral or rock grains. [3] The bank employs a number of robust security systems. Seeds are packaged in special four-ply packets and heat sealed to exclude moisture. The facility is managed by the Nordic Genetic Resource Center, though there are no permanent staff on-site.

Spitsbergen was considered ideal due to its lack of tectonic activity and its permafrost, which will aid preservation. Plate tectonics (from Greek τέκτων tektōn "builder" or "mason" describes the large scale motions of Earth 's Lithosphere This article is about frozen ground For other meanings see Permafrost (disambiguation. The location 130 metres (430 ft) above sea level will ensure that the site remains dry even if the icecaps melt. [3] Locally mined coal provides power for refrigeration units that further cool the seeds to the internationally-recommended standard −20 to −30 °C (0 to −20 °F). The Celsius Temperature scale was previously known as the centigrade scale. Fahrenheit is a temperature scale named after Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit (1686–1736 a German Physicist who proposed it in 1724 [4] Even if the equipment fails, at least several weeks will elapse before the temperature rises to the −3 °C (30 °F) of the surrounding sandstone bedrock. [1]

The entrance to the Vault.
The entrance to the Vault.

Prior to construction, a feasibility study determined that the vault could preserve seeds from most major food crops for hundreds of years. Some seeds, including those of important grains, could survive far longer, possibly thousands of years.

The Svalbard Global Seed Vault opened officially on February 26, 2008. Events 747 BC - Epoch (origin of Ptolemy 's Nabonassar Era 364 - Valentinian I is proclaimed 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common [5] Approximately 1. 5 million distinct seed samples of agricultural crops are thought to exist. The variety and volume of seeds stored will depend on the number of countries participating – the facility has a capacity to conserve 4. 5 million. The first seeds arrived in January 2008. [6] Five percent of the seeds in the Vault, about 18,000 samples with 500 seeds each, come from the Centre of Genetic Sources, part of Wageningen University, Netherlands. [7]

Mission

The Svalbard Global Seed Vault's mission is to provide a safety net against accidental loss of diversity in traditional genebanks. Gene banks are a means of preserving Genetic material, be it plant or animal While the popular press has emphasized its possible utility in the event of a major regional or global catastrophe, it will certainly be more frequently accessed when genebanks lose samples due to mismanagement, accident, equipment failures, funding cuts and natural disasters. Such events occur with some regularity. In recent years, some national genebanks have also been destroyed by war and civil strife. There are some 1,400 crop diversity collections around the world, but many are in politically unstable or environmentally threatened nations.

History

The Nordic Gene Bank has stored a backup of Nordic plant germplasm as frozen seeds in an abandoned coal mine at Svalbard since 1984. The Nordic Gene Bank (NGB) has deposited more than 10,000 seed samples of more than 2,000 cultivars of 300 different species over the years. In addition, seed samples from southern Africa (SADC) have been safely duplicated with the Nordic collection for some years. Both the Nordic and African collections are expected be transferred to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in the future. Since January 1, 2008 the Nordic Gene Bank is an integrated part of the newly formed Nordic Genetic Resource Center (NORDGEN). New Year See also New Year The Ancient Romans began their consular year on January 1st since 153 BC 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Charles, Daniel (23 June 2006). A Vavilov Center (aka Vavilov Center of Diversity) is a region of the world first indicated by Dr Survivalism is a commonly used term for the Preparedness strategy and subculture of individuals or groups anticipating and making preparations for future possible disruptions "A 'Forever' Seed Bank Takes Root in the Arctic". Science 312: 1730–1731. Science is the Academic journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and is considered one of the world's most prestigious Scientific doi:10.1126/science.312.5781.1730b. A digital object identifier ( DOI) is a permanent identifier given to an Electronic document.  
  2. ^ http://www.croptrust.org/main/donors.php Donors GCDT
  3. ^ a b Modern Marvels: Deep Freeze. The History Channel.
  4. ^ Ruttimann, Jacqueline (22 June 2006). "Doomsday food store takes pole position". Nature 441: 912–913. Nature is a prominent Scientific journal, first published on 4 November 1869 doi:10.1038/441912b. A digital object identifier ( DOI) is a permanent identifier given to an Electronic document.  
  5. ^ "'Doomsday' seed vault opens in Arctic", boston.com/Associated Press, 26 February 2008. The Boston Globe (and Boston Sunday Globe) is the most widely circulated daily Newspaper in Boston and in New England, The Associated Press ( AP) is an American News agency. The AP is a Cooperative owned by its contributing Newspapers radio Events 747 BC - Epoch (origin of Ptolemy 's Nabonassar Era 364 - Valentinian I is proclaimed 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common  
  6. ^ "'Doomsday' seeds arrive in Norway", BBC News Online, 31 January 2008. Events 1504 - France cedes Naples to Aragon. 1606 - Gunpowder Plot: Guy Fawkes 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common  
  7. ^ Aarden, Marieke. "Opslag met miljarden zaden, voor tijden van oorlog", de Volkskrant, 2008-02-26, p. De Volkskrant (literally "the people's paper" is a national daily Dutch morning Newspaper. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 747 BC - Epoch (origin of Ptolemy 's Nabonassar Era 364 - Valentinian I is proclaimed  6.  

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