Global Seed Vault Svalbard Norway Editorial Image

The Svalbard Global Seed Vault Norwegian: Svalbard globale frøhvelv is a secure seed bank on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen near Longyearbyen in the remote Arctic Svalbard archipelago, about 1,300 kilometres 810 mi from the North Pole. Conservationist Cary Fowler, in association with the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research CGIAR, started the vault to preserve a wide variety of plant seeds that are duplicate samples, or `spare` copies, of seeds held in gene banks worldwide. The seed vault is an attempt to ensure against the loss of seeds in other genebanks during large-scale regional or global crises. The seed vault is managed under terms spelled out in a tripartite agreement between the Norwegian government, the Crop Trust and the Nordic Genetic Resource Center NordGen. Photo: 3rd August 2017, Longyearbyen, Svalbard Norway