The seed vault receives its first shipment of 100 million seeds
2008-02-27 15:13:22 (GMT) (Caymanmama.com - Technology News)Longyearbyen, Norway: CNN reported that the vast underground Svalbard Global Seed Vault received its first shipment of 100 million seeds on Tuesday. This seed bank is situated on an isolated island near Arctic Ocean, located 427 feet (130 meters) inside an ice-covered mountain, and is considered to provide ultimate protection to the seed collections of the world, giving them safety against threats like wars, lack of funding, poor agricultural management or even natural disasters. At the opening ceremony of the vault on Tuesday, the musicians of Norway gave a spectacular performance, and Wangari Maathai, a political and environmental activist, who had won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004, followed by other honorary dignitaries, placed the vault’s first seeds inside.
The first shipment of the vault represents 268,000 different seeds samples from different fields and farms of the world, filled in 676 boxes and weighed around 10 tons. Global Crop Diversity Trust, the financing company for collecting and maintaining the seeds, reported that the seeds range from major Asian and African food staples like rice, maize and wheat to South American and European varieties of lettuce, egg plant, potato and barley. The trust’s executive director, Cary Fowler, said, “The seed vault is the perfect place for keeping seeds safe for centuries,” “At these temperatures, seeds for important crops like wheat, barley and peas can last for up to 10,000 years.”
The location of the vault, in a mountain-side near Longyearbyen, on the far-off islands of Svalbard between the North Pole and Norway, ensures the fact that the seeds stored in it will be absolutely safe, no matter what is happening outside. The Norwegian govt.’s project manager, Magnus Bredeli Tveiten said “We believe the design of the facility will ensure that the seeds will stay well-preserved even if such forces as global warming raise temperatures outside the facility.”
CaymanMama.com - Press Release Distribution Service
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