The Svalbard Global Seed Vault (Norwegian: Svalbard globale frøhvelv) is a secure backup facility for the world's crop diversity on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen in the remote Arctic Svalbard archipelago. The Seed Vault provides long-term storage for duplicates of seeds from around the world, conserved in gene banks. This provides security of the world's food supply against the loss of seeds in genebanks due to mismanagement, accident, equipment failures, funding cuts, war, sabotage, disease, and natural disasters. The Seed Vault is managed under terms spelled out in a tripartite agreement among the Norwegian government, the Crop Trust, and the Nordic Genetic Resource Center (NordGen).
Svalbard Global Seed Vault
The Norwegian government entirely funded the Seed Vault's approximately 45 million kr (US$8.8 million in 2008) construction cost. Norway and the Crop Trust pay for operational costs. Storing seeds in the vault is free to depositors. The vault has been depicted in several films and other art forms, including Marcus Paus’ children's opera Children of Ginko.
Key dimensions and capacity[]
- Located 130 meters above sea level
- The seed storage area is located more than 100 meters inside the mountain
- Protected by rock layers between 40-60 meters thick
- Contains three main storage halls, each measuring approximately 9.5 x 27 meters
- Each hall can store about 1.5 million seed samples, giving a total capacity of 4.5 million seed accessions
- Currently holds over 1.2 million seed samples
- The facility has a total floor area of approximately 1,000 square meters (11,000 sq ft)
The vault is kept at a constant temperature of -18°C for optimal seed storage, utilizing both artificial cooling systems and the natural permafrost conditions.
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