New Countries and a New Crop Mark FirstSeed Vault Deposit of 2026
The Svalbard Global Seed Vault opened for its first deposit event of 2026 in February week 9. Seeds from two new countries, Guatemala and Niger, were deposited for the first time, and the Seed Vault received its first-ever deposit of olive seeds. In total, 8,880 seed samples from 12 depositors arrived for long-term safeguarding in…
Celebration Meets Urgency at Latest Seed Vault Opening in Svalbard
Embargoed until 9:00 a.m. (CEST / UTC+2) 22 October 2025 LONGYEARBYEN, NORWAY, 22 October 2025 – Twenty genebanks representing every continent bar Antarctica deposited more than 21,000 seed samples to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault this week. Among them were new contributors from the Philippines and Peru, safeguarding crops that embody generations of farmers’ knowledge…
June 2025: Seed samples of cultural iconic plants from Korea, the Netherlands, and Benin are sent to the Seed Vault among seeds from 11 other countries
Sudan making its first deposit amid the country’s ongoing civil war
October 2024: Arrival of more than 30,000 new seeds – A continuation of global efforts to conserve diversity in the face of escalating climate change, conflict and other crises
Svalbard Global Seed Vault – Theme for World Food Prize 2024
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
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
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.