An "unprecedented effort" to protect global agricultural diversity has led to the creation of a facility 130m inside a frozen Arctic mountain that can store 100 million seeds.
The Svalbard Global Seed Vault opened today on a remote island in the Arctic Circle, receiving inaugural shipments of 100 million seeds from over 100 countries.
The deposits range from unique varieties of major African and Asian food staples such as maize, rice, wheat, cowpea and sorghum, to European and South American varieties of eggplant, lettuce, barley and potato.
Norwegian prime minister Jens Stoltenberg unlocked the vault at the opening ceremony and placed the first seeds in the vault together with African Nobel Peace Prize-winning environmentalist Wangari Maathai.
José Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission, and dignitaries and agriculture experts from around the globe also deposited seeds during the ceremony.
Built near Longyearbyen on the island of Spitsbergen, the vault contains 268,000 distinct samples of seeds, each originating from a different farm or field. Each sample may contain hundreds or more seeds.
The shipments of seeds secured in the vault today weighed approximately 10 tonnes and filled 676 boxes.
The vault is part of an effort to protect the planet's rapidly diminishing biodiversity.
"This 'fail-safe' facility deep in the frozen rock of an Arctic mountain will secure for centuries, or longer, hundreds of millions of seeds representing every important crop variety available in the world today," the project's creators stated.
"The vault could prove indispensable for restarting agricultural production at the regional or global level in the wake of a natural or man-made disaster."
Contingencies for climate change have been worked into the plan, and the vault rooms will remain naturally frozen for up to 200 years even in the worst case of global warming.
"Climate change and other forces threaten the diversity of life that sustains our planet," said Stoltenberg.
"Norway is proud to be playing a central role in creating a facility capable of protecting the fundamental building blocks of human civilization."
Breakthrough at Northwestern University promises cheaper solar cells 25 Feb 2008
'Phenomenal' efficiency rate of 31.25 per cent 14 Feb 2008
World Bank and IFPRI call for action on grain-based ethanol production to avert further food-price crisis 09 May 2008
José Manuel Barroso lays down gauntlet to the French president as he prepares to take on six-month EU presidency at a critical time for climate negotiations 27 Feb 2008
The Renewable Transport Fuels Obligation comes into force from 15 April 2008 but most consumers are unaware, according to a Friends of the Earth study 14 Apr 2008
Report claiming solar panels take over 100 years to recoup their value is just plain wrong, say manufacturers 05 Sep 2008
New hybrid hatchback designed to make dual-drive vehicles more affordable 05 Sep 2008
Republican attempts to highlight differences over energy policy as both candidates pledge to deliver US energy independence 05 Sep 2008
More news
Once your company has gathered up all the low-hanging fruit, what comes next? Sarah Fister Gale finds that the answer lies in everything from multi-million dollar energy efficiency programmes to printers powered by exercise bikes 03 Sep 2008
Slow journey times mean airships are highly unlikely to replace passenger jets, but, as Danny Bradbury discovers, a flotilla of new companies are convinced that low-fuel costs mean the old-fashioned aircraft could have huge appeal to freight operators 02 Sep 2008
Recent claims from the oil giant's chief executive suggesting tar sand extraction is required to slow the shift to coal may have caught the eye, but as BusinessGreen.com discovers they do not make much sense 28 Aug 2008 More in-depth
Post your comment
Send an email to the Business Green editor at feedback@businessgreen.com
