Svalbard Global Seed Vault
The Svalbard Global Seed Vault (Norwegian: Svalbard globale frøhvelv) is a secure backup facility for the world's crop diversity on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen in the remote Arctic Svalbard archipelago. The Seed Vault provides long-term storage of duplicates of seeds conserved in genebanks around the world. This provides security of the world's food supply against the loss of seeds in genebanks due to mismanagement, accident, equipment failures, funding cuts, war, sabotage, disease and natural disasters. The Seed Vault is managed under terms spelled out in a tripartite agreement among the Norwegian government, the Crop Trust, and the Nordic Genetic Resource Center (NordGen).
| Svalbard Global Seed Vault | |
|---|---|
Svalbard globale frøhvelv | |
Location within Norway | |
| General information | |
| Status | Completed |
| Type | Seed bank |
| Location | Spitsbergen |
| Town or city | Longyearbyen |
| Country | Norway |
| Coordinates | 78°14′09″N 15°29′29″E |
| Elevation | 130 m (430 ft) |
| Groundbreaking | 19 June 2006 |
| Opened | 26 February 2008 |
| Cost | 45 million kr (US$8.8 million, 2008) |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 1 |
| Floor area | c. 1,000 m2 (c. 11,000 sq ft) |
| Awards and prizes | Norwegian Lighting Prize for 2009 No. 6 TIME's Best Inventions of 2008 |
| Website | |
| Official website | |
The Norwegian government entirely funded the Seed Vault's approximately 45 million kr (US$8.8 million in 2008) construction cost. Norway and the Crop Trust pay for operational costs. Storing seeds in the vault is free to depositors. The vault has been depicted in several films and other art forms, including Marcus Paus’ children's opera Children of Ginko.