The Svalbard Global Seed Vault is located in a remote Arctic island of Spitsbergen in Norway. It serves as a backup storage facility for seeds from genebanks around the world. The seeds are preserved in the permafrost and used as a safeguard against loss from natural disasters or political conflicts. It ensures global food security by providing duplicate samples of seeds that can be used to rebuild crop diversity if major collections are destroyed.

1. Prof. Kumari Rajani
Department of Seed Science & Technology
Bihar Agricultural University, Sabour

2. Svalbard Global Seed Vault is not a gene bank, but a
safety-storage for preservation of duplicate collections of
seeds on behalf of genebanks.
Established on 26 February 2008
Prof. Kumari Rajani
The Seeds in the
Seed Vault shall only
be accessed when
the original seed
collections have been
lost for any reason.
What is a seed vault?

3. It is a facility located on a remote island in the Arctic Ocean
and it houses the world's largest collection of seeds.
The seeds can be of use in the event of a global catastrophe
or when some species is lost due to natural disasters. It is
therefore also referred to as the doomsday vault.
Global Seed Vault on
Spitsbergen, part of
Norway’s Svalbard
archipelago
Prof. Kumari Rajani

4. Norwegian island of Spitsbergen near Longyearbyen in the
remote Arctic Svalbard archipelago, about 1300 kilometres
from the North Pole
Where it is located?
Prof. Kumari Rajani

5. Cont…
The idea was conceived in the 1980s by Cary Fowler, a former
executive director of the Crop Trust, but only started to become reality
after an International Seed Treaty negotiated by the U.N. was signed in
2001. Construction was funded by the Norwegian government, which
operates the vault in partnership with the Crop Trust.
Prof. Kumari Rajani

6. NordGen is responsible for the operation and
management of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault (SGSV)
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)
Primary funding for the Trust comes from organisations
such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and from
various governments worldwide
Prof. Kumari Rajani

7. The seed bank is 120 metres (390 ft) inside
a sandstone mountain on Spitsbergen Island and
employs robust security systems
Seeds are packaged in special three-ply foil packets
and heat sealed to exclude moisture
The facility is managed by the Nordic Genetic Resource
Center, though there are no permanent staff on-site
Prof. Kumari Rajani

8. Prof. Kumari Rajani

9. Prof. Kumari Rajani

10. Prof. Kumari Rajani

11. Spitsbergen was considered ideal because it
lacked tectonic activity and had permafrost, which aids
preservation.
Svalbard has perfect climate and geology
for underground cold storage.
Its being 130 metres (430 ft) above sea level will keep the
site dry even if the ice caps melt.
Because of the permafrost, the temperature will never
rise above -3.5°C.
Locally mined coal provides power for refrigeration units
that further cool the seeds to the internationally
recommended standard of −18 °C (−0.4 °F).
Prof. Kumari Rajani
Why Svalbard?

12. The sandstone at Svalbard is stable to build in and low
in radiation.
In terms of security, Svalbard scores high compared to
the locations of many other gene banks in the world.

The infrastructure is good with daily flights and with a
reliable source of energy.
Locally mined coal provides power for refrigeration
units that further cool the seeds to the internationally
recommended standard of −18 °C (−0.4 °F).
Prof. Kumari Rajani

13. Prof. Kumari Rajani