Construction of the seed vault, which cost approximately NOK 45 million (US$9 million), was funded entirely by the government of Norway. Storage of seeds in the seed vault is free-of-charge. Operational costs will be paid by Norway and the Global Crop Diversity Trust. Primary funding for the Trust comes from organisations, such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and from various governments worldwide.
as of well as this seed vault may have good intension of protecting our food reserve supply but there are some question need to be ask such as if this vault is called a boom day vault how will it be access since it is such a remote location and very difficult to access because of it high level of security .why so much security if it already in a remote location .as this is happening gmo are sweeping around the world with many people now complaining how this stuff does not work and it nutrient deficient . another question can be ask if gmo are so good in with standing climate change diseases and other variably that will affect the growth of the plant why the worried that seed gmo or not will not be there in the future question . I thing that gmo does not do what it is supposed to do and those in power are trying to protect them self while we starve let not forget that the Georgia guide stone state that the population should be keep under 500000 that about 90 % of our population .to me that mean that the elite have a depopulation a gender they want to fulfil so that explain gmo and vaccine but enough said let look at the history of the seed bank .
History
The Nordic Gene Bank (NGB) has stored a backup of Nordic plant germplasm as frozen seeds in an abandoned coal mine at Svalbard since 1984. The NGB has deposited more than 10,000 seed samples of more than 2,000 cultivars of 300 different species over the years. In addition, seed samples from the Southern African Development Community have been safely duplicated with the Nordic collection for some years. Both the Nordic and African collections have been transferred to the new Svalbard Global Seed Vault facility. Since 1 January 2008, the Nordic Gene Bank is an integrated part of NordGen.
Construction
Rendered visualisation of the seed vault
The prime ministers of Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, and Icelandparticipated in a ceremonial "laying of the first stone" on 19 June 2006
The seedbank is constructed 120 metres (390 ft) inside a sandstone mountain at Svalbard on Spitsbergen Island .he bank employs a number of robust security systems. Seeds are packaged in special four-ply 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.
Spitsbergen was considered ideal due to its lack of tectonic activity and its permafrost, which will aid preservation. The location 130 metres (430 ft) above sea level will ensure that the site remains dry even if the icecaps meltLocally mined coal provides power for refrigeration units that further cool the seeds to the internationally recommended standard −18 °C (0 °F).Even if the equipment fails, at least several weeks will elapse before the temperature rises to the −3 °C (27 °F) of the surrounding sandstone bedrock.
Prior to construction, a feasibility study determined that the vault could preserve seeds from most major food crops for hundreds of years. Some seeds, including those of important grains, could survive far longer, possibly thousands of years.
The Svalbard Global Seed Vault opened officially on 26 February 2008. Approximately 1.5 million distinct seed samples of agricultural crops are thought to exist. The variety and volume of seeds stored will depend on the number of countries participating – the facility has a capacity to conserve 4.5 million. The first seeds arrived in January 2008 five percent of the seeds in the vault, about 18,000 samples with 500 seeds each, come from the Centre for Genetic Resources of the Netherlands (CGN), part of Wageningen University, Netherlands.
]Public art
Entrance to the seed vault
Running the length of the building's flat roof and down the front face to the doors of the building's concrete entry is a work of art that marks the location of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault from a great distance. In Norway, government-funded construction projects exceeding a certain cost are required to include some kind of art work. KORO, the Norwegian State's agency overseeing art in public spaces, engaged the Norwegian artist Dyveke Sanne to make a lighting installation. The piece highlights the importance of light, and the qualities of light, in the Arctic. The roof and vault entrance are filled with highly reflective stainless steel, mirrors, and prisms. The installation acts as a beacon, reflecting polar light in the summer months, while in the winter, a network of 200 fibre-optic cables gives the piece a muted greenish-turquoise and white light.
Mission
The Svalbard Global Seed Vault's mission is to provide a safety net against accidental loss of diversity in traditional genebanks. While the popular press has emphasized its possible utility in the event of a major regional or global catastrophe, it will certainly be more frequently accessed when genebanks lose samples due to mismanagement, accident, equipment failures, funding cuts and natural disasters. Such events occur with some regularity. In recent years, some national genebanks have also been destroyed by war and civil strife. There are some 1,400 "crop diversity collections" around the world, but many are in politically unstable or environmentally threatened nations.
Ensuring that the genetic diversity of the world’s food crops is preserved for future generations is an important contribution toward the reduction of hunger and poverty in developing countries. This is where the greatest plant diversity originates and where the need for food security and the further development of agriculture is most urgent.
The Svalbard Global Seed Vault, which is established in the permafrost in the mountains of Svalbard, is designed to store duplicates of seeds from seed collections around the globe. Many of these collections are in developing countries. If seeds are lost, e.g. as a result of natural disasters, war or simply a lack of resources, the seed collections may be reestablished using seeds from Svalbard.
The loss of biological diversity is currently one of the greatest challenges facing the environment and sustainable development. The diversity of food crops is under constant pressure. The consequence could be an irreversible loss of the opportunity to grow crops adapted to climate change, new plant diseases and the needs of an expanding population.
Here Why Svalbard was constructed where it is to day
1
Svalbard, as Norwegian territory, enjoys security and political and social stability. Norway understands the importance of preserving Svalbard as an area of undisturbed nature, which is now an important research and reference area. The seed vault fits ideally into this concept.
2
Svalbard has an isolated position far out in the ocean, between 74° and 81° N and only 1000 kilometres from the North Pole. The archipelago is characterised by an undisturbed nature. Permafrost provides stable storage conditions for seeds. Besides which there is little risk of local dispersion of seed.
3
The seed vault, which consists of three chambers, is located right outside Longyearbyen and directly opposite Longyear Airport. The facility is about 130 metres above sea level and has been tunnelled 120 metres into the mountain, in a stable sandstone situation. Each of the three underground chambers is about 1,200 cubic metres (20 metres deep, 10 metres wide and 6 metres high). The location so far below ground guarantees stable permafrost for the foreseeable future and is high enough above sea level to secure the facility against any rise in sea level as a result of global warming.
4
The facility’s open location near the town makes monitoring and security easier. Security is the responsibility of the Governor of Svalbard in cooperation with the University of Svalbard (UNIS).
5
Since Svalbard was a natural choice for physical and security reasons, the Norwegian government decided that Norwegian ownership, operating responsibility and financing of the facility was equally natural. The seed vault is also in line with Norwegian policy with regard to biodiversity, preservation of genetic resources, north-south policy, development policy and food safety, as displayed in the following points:
- In establishing the international seed vault, Norway is making a unique contribution to the preservation of the planet’s most important biodiversity. This will help to fulfil the main objectives of the Biodiversity Convention and the FAO treaty, priority issues for Norway for many years. The seed vault could come to have a special significance for a number of regions in developing countries where the storage conditions in regular gene banks are a constant challenge.
- For many years it has been Norway’s aim to play a bridge-building role in the north-south debate about genetic resources and biological diversity. This doesn’t mean that we necessarily always take the middle line, but rather that we try to see new elements in the positions of all sides with the aim of finding solutions which actually lead to the sensible management of genetic resources. We believe that Svalbard Global Seed Vault can be a unifying initiative, which offers much to countries both north and south and which will hopefully also promote global collaboration in taking care of our most important genetic resources.
- Securing food supplies is one of the most basic issues in any strategy for eliminating poverty. In a time of climate change, this is equally a global issue. The establishment of a global seed vault is therefore very much in line with the principle of informed self-interest.
Access to seeds
The seed samples stored in the seed vault are copies of samples stored in the depositing genebanks. Researchers, plant breeders and other groups wishing to access seed samples cannot do so through the seed vault; instead they must request samples from the depositing genebanks. The samples stored in the genebanks will, in most cases, be accessible in accordance with the terms and conditions of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, approved by 118 countries/parties
The seed vault functions like a safe deposit box in a bank. The bank owns the building and the depositor owns the contents of his or her box. The Government of Norway owns the facility and the depositing genebanks own the seeds they send. The deposit of samples in Svalbard does not constitute a legal transfer of genetic resources. In genebank terminology this is called a "black box" arrangement. Each depositor signs a Deposit Agreement with NordGen, acting on behalf of Norway. The Agreement makes clear that Norway does not claim ownership over the deposited samples and that ownership remains with the depositor, who has the sole right of access to those materials in the seed vault. No one has access to anyone else's seeds from the seed vault the database of samples and depositors is maintained by NordGen.
Yes that true with any bank what u put is what u receive but it is the government of each country a lone can put seed and retrieve it and so they alone will decided when it time to access it people like u and me don’t have that access to deposited our seed for safe keeping I under stand the problem that may arise and not that farmer will place seed there but just like the elite don’t place their cash in normal bank like every one else just to evade paying tax while the working class can barely pay the tax rate I think that the 13 blood line family and other miner family will benefit first before us because they make up the government with the small g and capital g if u don’t under stand I mean the temporary government and the permerment government [ the military bank etc ] who tell those who we elect what to do the temporary government where is the democracy so that answer who have the ability to access the seed
Seed storage
Boxes of seeds in a storeroom
The seeds are stored in four-ply sealed envelopes, then placed into plastic tote containers on metal shelving racks. The storage rooms are kept at −18 °C (0 °F). The low temperature and limited access to oxygen will ensure low metabolic activity and delay seed aging. The permafrost surrounding the facility will help maintain the low temperature of the seeds should the electricity supply fail
Global Crop Diversity Trust
The Global Crop Diversity Trust (GCDT) has played a key role in the planning of the seed vault and is coordinating shipments of seed samples to the Vault in conjunction with the Nordic Genetic Resource Center. The Trust will provide most of the annual operating costs for the facility, and has set aside endowment funds to do so, while the Norwegian government will finance upkeep of the structure itself. With support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and other donors u see what I was telling u just a while ago the elite are involved in this and u can bet ur bottom dallar it more than donation . the GCDT is assisting selected genebanks in developing countries as well as the international agricultural research centers in packaging and shipping seeds to the seed vault. An International Advisory Council is being established to provide guidance and advice. It will include representatives from the FAO, the CGIAR, the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources and other institutions.
First anniversary deposits
As part of the vault's one year anniversary, more than 90,000 food crop seed samples were placed into storage, bringing the total number of seed samples to 400,000.mong the new seeds includes 32 varieties of potatoes from Ireland's national gene banks and 20,000 new samples from the U.S. Agricultural Research Service. Other seed samples came from Canada and Switzerland, as well as international seed researchers from Colombia, Mexico and Syria.his 4-tonne (3.9-long-ton; 4.4-short-ton) shipment brought the total number of seeds stored in the vault to over 20 million. As of this anniversary, the vault contained samples from approximately one-third of the world's most important food crop varieties.Also part of the anniversary, experts on food production and climate change met for a three-day conference in Longyearbyen.
Awards and honors
- Svalbard Global Seed Vault ranked at No. 6 on Time's Best Inventions of 2008.
- Was awarded the Norwegian Lighting Prize for 2008
capacity
- On 10 March 2010 the seed count at the vault passed half a million (500,000) samples.[24] As of July 2012, the number of distinct samples has increased to 750,000 and could hold lot more than that
International connections
- Japanese sculptor Mitsuaki Tanabe (田辺光彰) presented a work to the vault named "The Seed 2009 / Momi In-Situ Conservation".
- In 2010 a delegation of seven U.S. congressmen handed over a number of different varieties of chili pepper.
Frozen zoo
the animals kingdom the first attempt to store genetic material in order to preserve the animals kingdom from extension the frozen zoo is a storage facility in which genetic materials taken from animals (e.g. DNA, sperm, eggs, and embryos) are gathered and thereafter stored at very low temperatures for optimal preservation over a long period (see cryopreservation). Some facilities also collect and cryopreserve plant material (usually seeds).
Zoos such as the San Diego Zoo and research programs such as the Audubon Center for Research of Endangered Species cryopreserve genetic material in order to protect the diversity of the gene pool of endangered species, or to provide for a prospective reintroduction of such extinct species as the Tasmanian Tigerand the Mammoth.
Frozen Zoo at San Diego Zoo Conservation Research has been freezing biological materials from animals and plants in liquid nitrogen (-196 °C) since 1976.They currently store a collection of 8,400 samples from over 800 species and subspecies. Frozen Zoo at San Diego Zoo Conservation Research has acted as a forbearer to similar projects at other zoos in the United States and Europe including the Frozen Ark Project. However, there are still less than a dozen frozen zoos worldwide.
At the United Arab Emirates Breeding Centre for Endangered Arabian Wildlife (BCEAW), Sharjah, the embryos stored include the extremely endangered Gordon’s wildcat (Felis silvestris gordoni) and the Arabian leopard (Panthera pardus nimr) (of which there are only 50 in the wild).
Like is said for the seed bank a great idea it just that will be use as in tended to protect animals from going extinct because lab around the world are creating their own zoo of animals by mixing different gene together to create a new spices of animals in effect playing god with no regard as to what effect that could have on the ecosystem if it were to get loose in the environment and it only talking about animals but also as small as virous and bacteria which some people say have affected human begin .we should keep our eye on this because playing with mother nature have consequence .
Creating a Frozen Zoo
Gathering material for a frozen zoo is rendered simple by the abundance of sperm in males. Sperm can be taken from an animal following death. The production of eggs, which in females is usually low, can be increased through hormone treatment to obtain 10-20 oocytes, dependant on species. Some frozen zoos prefer to fertilize eggs and freeze the resulting embryo, as embryos are more resilient under the cryopreservation process.The zoo also collects skin cell samples if such endangered animals and Scripps Research Center has successfully made them in to a cultures of special cells,induced pluripotent stem (IPS) cells. Now, theoretically, they are able to make sperm and egg cells with old skin cells.
Future of Frozen Genetic Material
Just I was saying a while ago but more in depth Stored material can be stored indefinitely and used for artificial insemination, in vitro fertilisation, embryo transfer ,creation new animal and cloning and the media will say if it good for ur pet it good for u and human will join the experience at a past rate .
Artificial insemination provides a remedy for animals who, due to anatomical or physiological reasons, are unable to reproduce in the natural way. Reproduction of stored genetic material also allows for the fostering of genetic improvements, and the prevention of inbreeding.
Modern technology allows for genetic manipulation in animals without keeping them in captivity. However, the success of their restoration into the wild would require the application of new science and a sufficient amount of previously material
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