The Norwegian government is due to start work on the seed vault next year, when it will drill into a sandstone mountain on Spitsbergen, part of the Svalbard archipelago, about 966km (600 miles) from the North Pole. "What we're trying to do is build a back-up to these, so that a sample of all the material in these gene banks can be kept in the gene bank in Spitsbergen," Mr Hawtin added. Mr Hawtin said there were currently about 1,400 seed banks around the world, but a large number of these were located in countries that were either politically unstable or that faced threats from the natural environment. "What will go into the cave is a copy of all the material that is currently in collections all around the world," Geoff Hawtin of the Trust told the BBC's Today programme. Seed collection is being organised by the Global Crop Diversity Trust. It will be designed to withstand global catastrophes like nuclear war or natural disasters that would destroy the planet's sources of food. The Norwegian government will hollow out a cave on the ice-bound island of Spitsbergen to hold the seed bank. Norway is planning to build a "doomsday vault" inside a mountain on an Arctic island to hold a seed bank of all known varieties of the world's crops. “Svalbard’s Seed Vault in Norway focuses on preserving crop seeds for food resources for future generations, whereas the Baekdu-daegan Seed Vault also serves the purpose of storing wild plants that are on the verge of extinction, on top of food resource plants.Rice is one of the world's most important crops The annals of the Joseon dynasty were stored in five different regions, (Bonghwa being one of them), which also proves the point.”Īlthough Norway’s Seed Vault started some eight years earlier, there are core differences in its purpose and objectives. ![]() “Since a long time ago, Bonghwa-gun has been historically known as one of the safest regions from natural and wartime threats in the Korean Peninsula. The location of Seed Vault was selected after comprehensive consideration of both the topographic characteristics and the unique history of the region. ![]() While the majority of species are kept and researched within the domestic realm, the center has received seeds from eight different organizations in four different countries through a global donation project that started in 2016. “These are sacred lotus (Nelumbo nucifera) seeds, those that bloomed as flowers after 700 years have passed” While explaining the powerful vitality of each seeds, Lee carefully presented a seed bottle kept inside one of the cabinets of Seed Vault. “According to botanical research done so far, it is known that the lower the temperature, and the lower the humidity, the plant seeds gain stronger vitality.” said Lee Sang-yong, General Manager of Seed Vault Center. Padded jackets, boots, and gloves are a must in order to bear the temperature inside, kept at 20 degrees below zero Celsius. The main part of the tightly controlled Seed Vault is located in a tunnel structure 46 meters below ground. It currently stores over 90,000 types of seeds. ![]() The Baekdu-daegan Seed Vault in Korea is one of only two built worldwide - the other is Svalbard Global Seed Vault, which opened in 2008 on an arctic Norwegian Island. Officially launched in 2016 and designated a national security facility since 2019, the Baekdu-daegan Seed Vault’s main purpose is to secure biodiversity from threats such as natural disasters, climate change and war, to support sustainable life for human beings. The idea of building a Seed Vault in South Korea initially began with the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing in 2010. ![]() Six hundred meters up a mountain in the southern part of the country’s longest range, Baekdu-daegan, stands a building in a clearing with a seed-shaped roof.īut the above-ground structure of the Baekdu-daegan Seed Vault belies the true size of this sprawling underground structure.
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