Secure seed bank opened in Arctic region off Norway

Feb 26, 2008, 13:49 GMT

Entrance to a new seed vault where containers will be kept under optimum conditions in Longyarbyen, Norway, 24 February 2008. Hundreds of seed banks and national coordinators around the world have been invited to \'make deposits\'. EPA/HAKON MOSVOLD LARSEN

Oslo - Bundled up against the cold, dignitaries including 2004 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Wangari Maathai on Tuesday celebrated the official opening of a global seed vault on an island off northern Norway.

Blasted into a mountain, the three chambers in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault will contain seeds from key staple crops including maize, rice, wheat, beans, sorghum, cowpeas and soybeans.

'It is a Noah's Ark for our biological heritage,' Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg said of the Norway-funded vault that cost 50 million kroner (9.3 million dollars) to build.

Stoltenberg and Maathai carried the first box of seeds into the vault. Maathai founded the Kenya-based Green Belt Movement which has planted millions of trees across Africa and she was the first environmentalist to win the Nobel Peace Prize.

'We now understand that along with international movements to save endangered species and the rainforests of the world, it is just as important for us to conserve the diversity of the world's crops for future generations,' Maathai said.

Other dignitaries present followed suit, including Jose Manuel Barroso, head of the European Commission, and Jacques Diouf, Director-General of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

The vault is located about one kilometre away from the airport serving Longyearbyen, the main settlement on Svalbard, an archipelago off northern Norway some 1,000 kilometres from the North Pole.

Arctic temperatures, permafrost and stable geological conditions were decisive factors in the choice of Svalbard.

The seed bank is to serve as a safety net and store copies of seeds from other seed banks and collections worldwide. Capacity is estimated at 4.5 million samples - some 2 billion seeds.

The seeds will be stored at -18 degrees Celsius. Should there be a power failure, the permafrost of -4 degrees will keep temperatures below freezing, organizers said.

Deposits have been made from gene banks including the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in the Philippines and the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT) in Mexico.

The Rome-based Global Crop Diversity Trust has provided funds for the transport of the seeds that are stored in vacuum-sealed aluminium bags packed in special boxes.

Cary Fowler, Executive Director of the Trust, said 'crop diversity will soon prove to be our most potent and indispensable resource for addressing climate change, water and energy supply constraints, and for meeting the food needs of a growing population.'

The vault would likely be accessed only a few times a year, mainly to deposit new samples.