Hello Fellow Gardener’s,

Thinking about what to do in case of natural disasters or other catastrophes may not be the most cheerful subject, however, having a plan can help save lives. Luckily, that is exactly what the Global Crop Diversity Trust has established! A seed bank in Svalbard in the Arctic Circle will be opening tomorrow.

The almost 9 million dollar vault (courtesy of Norway) rises above world strife by incorporating seeds from all over the globe! The vault has the ability to store “4.5 million batches of seeds from all known varieties of the planet’s main food crops, making it possible to re-establish plants if they disappear from their natural environment or are obliterated by major disasters.”* Every precaution was taken with the doomsday vault. It was built to withstand nuclear missile attacks, and high enough so that even if the glaciers all melted it would still be above water! However, don’t expect to see armed guards freezing their tootsies off at the doorway, nope, the regions polar bears will be guarding the facility!

We covered the Svalbard Arctic Seed Bank when it first commenced construction last January, check that out here.

For more information…

To read a press release from the Global Crop Diversity Trust click here.

To read Yahoo Green’s news coverage click here!

Finally, to see two short videos on the seed vault click here and here!

* Quote courtesy of “Biodiversity ‘doomsday vault’ comes to life in Arctic” by Pierre-Henry Deshayes.

Happy Gardening,

Marie Suzanne

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