Svalbard Global Seed Vault: Invitation to world’s seed banks

“We are launching a brand new seed portal and also inviting all of the world’s seed banks to collaborate in a joint effort to secure genetic diversity in agriculture,” says Operation Manager Ola Westengen with the Nordic Genetic Resource Centre/Svalbard Global Seed Vault. The portal already contains detailed information on 12,600 seed samples from 288 types. Read more about the ”seed portal” at www.nordgen.org/sgsv/

Two target groups
“The seed portal has two target groups: first of all, seed banks and national coordinators who wish to deposit seeds in Svalbard. The Seed Vault portal provides the necessary information and application forms. The second target group is the media and general public who want to know which seed samples are stored in Svalbard (type of seeds, originating continents and countries, which seed banks, how many samples, etc.).”

Hundreds of invitations
“Invitations have been distributed to several hundred seed banks and national coordinators all over the world. They are all welcome to send duplicate seed samples to Svalbard,” says Ola Westengen.  ”The seed vault in Svalbard is the ultimate safety net for seed banks all over the world. Last year a typhoon struck the Philippines and destroyed the national seed bank. In Iraq and Afghanistan the seed banks have been destroyed by war. However, the biggest problem for seed banks in many countries is that the seeds simply die due to lack of control and poor funding,” says Westengen.

“In order to use the Svalbard seed vault, the individual seed banks naturally have to meet certain requirements. These are described in a standard contract that individual seed banks must agree to. Read more about this and the application procedures at www.nordgen.org/sgsv/,” he urges.

Detailed information
“The new seed vault doesn’t open until February 2008, but the portal already contains information on the seed samples that are stored in the Nordic Genetic Resource Centre's existing safe storage facility in a disused mine in Svalbard. These will be moved to the new seed vault in February. The web pages thus already contain detailed information on 12,600 seed samples from 288 types. This is just a beginning and we aim for a substantial number of seed samples deposited and registered in the seed portal in time for the opening,” says Westengen.   

More information:
Operation Manager Ola Westengen, tel. + 47 90 94 27 85.