The government proposes to allocate 100 million NOK to upgrade the Svalbard Global Seed Vault
Historical archive
Published under: Solberg's Government
Publisher: Ministry of Agriculture and Food
News story | Date: 23/02/2018
After ten years of operation, it is time for technical improvements at the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. The measures are part of a long-term plan to enhance the performance and extend the viability of the seed vault. The government is now proposing a start-up grant of 100 million NOK in 2018 (circa 10 million Euro or 12.7 million USD).
– The upgrades, which we hope to begin presently, will ensure that the Svalbard Global Seed Vault can continue to offer the world's gene banks a secure storage space in the future. It is a great and important task to safeguard all the genetic material that is crucial to global food security, Norway's Minister of Agriculture and Food Jon Georg Dale said.
Statsbygg has prepared a feasibility study, commissioned by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food. The project includes the construction of a new, concrete-built access tunnel, as well as a service building to house emergency power and refrigerating units and other electrical equipment that emits heat through the tunnel.
– In 2017 the important role of the seed vault was made evident. For the first time seeds were redeposited at the seed vault on Svalbard. The ICARDA International Research Center, previously operating out of Aleppo in Syria, returned seeds harvested after they had retrieved their seeds from Svalbard in 2015. This demonstrates that the seed vault is a worldwide insurance for food supply for future generations, Jon Georg Dale says.
- See more pictures on Flickr
- Svalbard Global Seed Vault 10 year - 2008–2018 (engelsk)
- The Seed Portal of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault
The parties that finance and operate Svalbard Global Seed Vault are the Ministry of Agriculture and Food, the Global Crop Diversity Trust and the Nordic Genetic Resource Center (NordGen).
Agriculture and Food Minister Jon Georg Dale is on Svalbard from Sunday 25.02.- Tuesday 27.02.
Press contact for Dale: Heidi E. Riise, +47 975 17 227.