Think about the way we keep our money safe in a bank account. We know that the money is there, no matter what happens, we still will have this “safety island” available. Nowadays, we are witnessing so many natural disasters, like fires, mainly due to pollution. What if one day, due to pollution, the Earth suffers a loss of plants? The solution is the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. This Vault is a proper bank of seeds coming from all around the world. It has been inaugurated in 2008 and has the aim to provide new plants in case of a huge loss. It is located on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen and is built in a concrete structure so that it would endure events such as war, plane crash, or natural disaster.
The Vault aims to preserve main food crops such as rice, corn, potatoes, apples, and so on so that there will not be a food shortage in the future. That is to say that this “bank” preserve many different seeds to keep the diversity. The Svalbard Global Seed Vault is owned by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food of the Kingdom of Norway but it is a worldwide service. It is supported by the main international institutions such as FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations). But how is it structured? This bank is located in a mountain and divided into three main rooms. there are more than one million seeds that are all stored at a chilling temperate of -18°C.
Has this bank already been used? Yes. The bank was used for the first time in 2015 due to Syria’s civil war. The nation requested more than 100 boxes and after using what they needed, returned the seeds and boxes to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault after two years.
Due to global warming, there is an effort to raise funds to make the Svalbard Global Seed Vault more durable against the challenges global warming presents. The goal is to make the building waterproof and ensure that the electricity will be constant so that the seeds are safe and in a suitable environment.
Of course, it is a quite important activity. Another seed bank is the Millennium Seed Bank Project located in Wakehurst Place West Sussex, with the same goals. It is considered the biggest seed bank in the world with over 2.4 billion seeds from around the world. Since 2000, it has had contributions from 97 countries.
We can feel a bit more relaxed now that we know that someone is thinking about our future plants and nutrition. So, are you still thinking that money is the most important thing in the world?
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