It's small wonder that most of us have found ourselves thinking about the end of days, especially with plenty of books and movies focusing on doomsday events. Some start reading survival guides, others go as far as building nuclear shelters in their backyard, but conservationist Cary Fowler took it to the next level by working with Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) to build a global seed vault.
In 2008, the Svalbard Global Seed Vault was opened in Spitsbergen, Norway, with Norwegian government funding the construction with $8.8 million in total. The vault serves as a secure seed bank, storing spare "copies" of seeds from gene banks all over the world, with 930,821 total samples (as of 2017). The Svalbard vault is an attempt to preserve samples of various plants in case of a global crisis. It is built to withstand nuclear threats and severe climate changes, and access to it is restricted.
Scroll down to find out more about this vault that one day could be humanity's last hope.
More info: seedvault.no
The Svalbard Global Seed Vault is a secure seed bank that stores spare "copies" of seeds
The vault contains seeds from all over the world, with such countries as Soviet Union and North Korea
The vault was opened in 2008 and the construction was financed the Norwegian government, who provided $8.8 million
I was built to withstand bombing threats and drastic climate changes
As of 2017, there are 930,821 samples in total inside the vault
The seeds are stored at minus 18°Celsius (minus 0.4°Fahrenheit)
This ensures the longevity of the seeds stored inside the vault
The vault is not only a backup plan in case of the apocalypse as it has practical purpose in current time
Back in 2015, Syria was retrieved their backup seeds from the vault in the wake of events in Aleppo
They planted the seeds and were able to return their share back to the vault
