“Over a million seeds are safely locked away here,” Ola Westengen says. He is a researcher and former head of the [Svalbard] seed vault.
They come from wheat, corn, rice, and other cereal grains.
The seed vault protects them against war, climate change, fire, and theft.
But why does such a seed vault even exist?
“The goal is to store all genetic variation in the food plants,” the researcher says.
Westengen expresses concern about bananas.
“Virtually all bananas on the market are genetically identical,” he says.
Having a wider range of banana varieties would increase the likelihood of some avoiding or only mildly succumbing to diseases.
“They are all currently susceptible to the same disease,” he says.
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Seed vaults are meant to be secure, but there have been instances where things did not go as planned.
“The Iraqi seed vault was looted during the war, and the Philippines lost theirs in a typhoon,” says Westengen.
Therefore, seed vaults require an additional layer of protection, much like a backup hard drive for photos and documents.
“And that’s exactly what we have in Svalbard,” says Westengen.
In Svalbard, seeds from countries like Mexico and North Korea can be safely stored.
