The Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Norway has received a substantial boost to its collection. This week, 14,000 seed samples from 21 gene banks around the world were deposited, the Norwegian government announced on Wednesday.
These seeds represent vital crop varieties essential for global food security. “The seed vault is about our world’s food security. It is fantastic to be here to receive new seeds to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, also from several new depositors and countries,” said Norwegian State Secretary Hanne-Berit Brekken at the deposit ceremony.
Following the ceremony, the inaugural Svalbard International Dialogue brought together high-level government officials and experts. They discussed the challenges of preserving crop diversity amid increasing environmental pressures and global conflicts.
This latest deposit marks the 66th since the vault’s inauguration in 2008. Over the years, the Svalbard Global Seed Vault has received seed samples from 123 seed banks worldwide.
With the capacity to hold up to 4.5 million distinct seed varieties, the vault aims to safeguard duplicates of every unique seed variant stored in global gene banks. This includes any new types procured in the future, ensuring the preservation of crop diversity for generations to come.
