![]() “The whole of humanity relies on the genetic diversity of crops maintained in the world’s gene banks, and the Seed Vault is the last line of defense against the loss of that diversity,” said Sandra Borch, Minister of Agriculture and Food for Norway. It has seed samples from nearly every country in the world, and played an essential role between 20 in rebuilding seed collections damaged during the war in Syria. The vault, set in permafrost caves on an arctic mountainside halfway between mainland Europe and the North Pole, was launched in 2008 as a backup for the world’s national and regional gene banks that store the genetic code for thousands of plant species. The Svalbard Global Seed Vault, built to protect the world’s food stock from disasters ranging from nuclear war to global warming, will add 19,500 rare seed variety samples from across the world to its collection on Tuesday, taking its total stash to more than 1.2 million. Please bookmark and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here.LONDON: A ‘doomsday’ Arctic seed vault on Norway’s Spitsbergen island is set to receive its most diverse batch of seed donations yet as efforts to secure the world’s food supplies ramp up amid rising climate concerns. Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. The vault was built at Svalbard because the Arctic’s cold climate means its contents will stay cool even if the power fails. The seeds were grown and re-deposited at the Svalbard vault in 2017. In 2015, researchers made a first withdrawal from the vault after Syria’s civil war damaged a seed bank near the city of Aleppo. With Tuesday’s deposit, it will contain one million different kinds of seeds, from almost all nations.
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