![vault of the future vault of the future](https://i1.sndcdn.com/artworks-000421601214-vb75y1-t500x500.jpg)
Its remoteness also makes it especially secure. Svalbard was chosen as the perfect location because its cold climate means that even if power fails, seeds should be kept frozen by the surrounding permafrost. They represent more than 5,000 plant species with many more varieties of each (for example 40,000 types of bean, 156,000 kinds of wheat).
![vault of the future vault of the future](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/h1zXiKDbM-w/maxresdefault.jpg)
Stored 130 metres deep inside a mountain are more than a million frozen seeds, kept at a chilled -18C. If their own collections are compromised, if there is mass crop failure due to disease, if food supply chains are disrupted by conflict – or should there be any other doomsday scenario from zombie apocalypse to asteroid impact – the Global Seed Vault could be humanity’s best hope for survival.
![vault of the future vault of the future](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/NHP5mHVTZic/hqdefault.jpg)
This inhospitable but breathtaking landscape is home to the ultimate storage solution designed to safeguard the seeds of the world’s most important crops.Ĭonstructed in 2008 and run as a joint initiative between Norway’s Ministry of Agriculture, the Crop Trust and the Nordic Genetic Resource Centre (NordGen), the Vault is used by gene banks, governments, universities and research facilities from every continent. On the frozen archipelago of Svalbard, halfway between the north of mainland Norway and the North Pole, is the Global Seed Vault.