February 2024: Norwegian Minister of Agriculture and Food welcomes the largest number of new gene banks depositing seeds to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault since its opening in 2008
Geir Pollestad, Minister of Agriculture and Food welcomed the seeds from the eight gene banks that deposited seeds for the first time and the 13 recurrent gene banks, together with representatives from the partners: Jaspreet Stamm, Director of External Affairs, CropTrust and Lise Lykke Steffensen, CEO, NordGen. Representatives from the Kazach gene bank, one of…
Welcome to the new seedvault.no
The Norwegian Ministry of Agriculture and Food proudly presents the new seedvault.no, a dynamic online platform with an emphasis on videos dedicated to educate and enlighten our global audience about food security and environmental sustainability. Inspired by the crucial role of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in preserving global crop diversity, this website offers a…
Securing the foundation of our food supply at -18° Celsius
2023 marks the 15th anniversary of the Vault and with the new deposits from 9 institutions, including international, regional and national genebanks, as well as smaller collection holders, we see the collection surpass 1.25 million seed samples. The Institute of Biosciences and BioResources from Italy is depositing seeds for the first time and is the…
15-year-olds in Svalbard celebrates the “15 year old” Svalbard Global Seed Vault on 28 February 2023
The 15-year-olds in Svalbard assisted when new 20,000 seed samples from 20 gene banks from all over the world were carried into the seed vault. They marked the 15th anniversary of the seed vault by placing seeds of modern Graminor grains in the same glass tube used during the foundation stone laying in 2006. At that time, there were 5 Nordic Prime Ministers who added modern seed varieties.
After 15- Years: Aiming to Secure Seeds Representing Every Important Crop Variety Available in the World Today
In February 2023, it will be 15 years since the Svalbard Global Seed Vault was opened. Over the last 15 years the Svalbard Global Seed Vault has secured almost 1,2 million seed samples of more than 5000 plant species, but there are many around the world that are not still secure.
Two Newcomers Join Svalbard Global Seed Vault for Final Opening of 2022
The Svalbard Global Seed Vault is set to accept new seed shipments from 12 genebanks around the world this week, adding two countries to its family of depositors in the process: Iraq and Uruguay.
Spain and Lithuania depositing seeds for first time
Two genebanks joined the growing number of depositors to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault this week and varieties of rice bean, lablab and yard-long bean from an Indigenous community were safely backed up for the first time.
Svalbard Global Seed Vault – the first goal of Michael Haddads walk for Climate Resilience and Food Security
7 June 2022 – United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Regional Goodwill Ambassador, Michael Haddad completed his Arctic Walk for Climate Resilience and Food Security, delivering a “package of hope,” comprising seed samples from twelve Arab countries and a book by Pope Francis to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault.
Seeds of 150 New Species Safeguarded in the Seed Vault
Around 150 species are deposited for the first time in the Seed Vault. Most of these are deposited by the Australian Pastures Genebank, which sent seeds from about 100 new species of forage crops, and almost 50 new species from the German gene bank, the Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research .
Nanofilm will safeguard identity of the more than 1 mill seed samples in the Seed Vault
For the first time film strips that hold information on seed identity and other valuable information will be attached to the seed boxes. This will ensure that valuable information is not lost even if data systems with the information are disrupted or destroyed. The first film strips were attached to seed boxes in the Seed Vault by Minister of Agriculture and Food Sandra Borch on her visit to the seed deposits in 14th February 2022.