The Kew Royal Botanic Gardens is a must-see destination in England, but their conservation arm is equally fascinating. Millennium Seed Bank – Kew Royal Botanic Gardens – UK Besides being an important part of the future of humankind, Svalbard is an incredibly cool-looking facility that would be equally effective as a supervillain hideout. The facility has the capacity to store a total of 4.5 million samples. Even if the vault’s refrigeration units were to fail, it would take several weeks for the interior temperature to rise from its stable -0.4° F to the ambient temperature of 27° F.Īs of 2015 – seven years after the facility opened – approximately 4000 plant species are preserved in the vault, with a total of around 840,000 total samples. The site’s permafrost is ideal for storage of genetic material, as well. Although no permanent staff are assigned to guard the vault, the structure has an impressive security system that would foil even the most nefarious of seed stealers. When an organization deposits seeds, only they are able to access the boxes containing those seeds the organizations retain ownership, making Svalbard simply a storage and preservation facility for the good of the planet.įurthermore, the site is favored for its lack of seismic activity and its altitude at 430 feet above sea level, the vault would be spared from flooding even if the polar ice caps melt. The permanently frozen, difficult-to-access, post-apocalyptic location wasn’t chosen by chance – this was a calculated decision based on careful foresight. The vault is set nearly 400 feet into a sandstone mountain on Spitsbergen Island. If other seed collections are damaged or lost due to a global crisis, the Svalbard Global Seed Vault is the place we’ll go to begin rebuilding the Earth’s vegetation. Tucked away on a frigid island near the North Pole, Svalbard is the backup storage vault for 1,750 other seed banks all over the world.
This is perhaps the mother of all seed vaults. Whether it be on a grand, global scale or just a grassroots (pardon the pun) movement at a local library, these seed storage sites might prove to be an incredibly important part of the future of the human race. Luckily, there are some pretty smart folks out there who are dedicated to keeping seeds safe for the future. By some predictions, Earth will become nearly uninhabitable within just a few generations – and between now and then, one of the most damaging events will be the loss of genetically diverse food crops.
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