A huge underground bunker in a frozen wasteland sounds like the backdrop to a spy thriller but that is exactly what can be found halfway between Norway and the North Pole.
The Global Seed Vault on the island of Svalbard in the Arctic Ocean extends more than 100 metres into a mountain.
The massive complex was built to serve as a repository of the world’s seed crops to protect the earth’s ability to grow food in the future.
Currently, more than 1.1 million seed varieties sourced from nearly every country on the planet are housed in the vault.
This includes distinct varieties of key African and Asian food staples such as maize, rice, and wheat as well as European and South American eggplant, lettuce, barley, and potato varieties.
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Svalbard was chosen primarily for its subzero temperatures and permafrost making it an ideal location for underground cold storage.
The remote location also helps the facility be considered the top genebank in the world in terms of security.
A dependable energy source is derived from local coal deposits.
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Construction first began in 2006 with the project costing some $9m.
The vault was opened in 2008 and is run by Norway in partnership with the Crop Trust and the Nordic Genetic Resource Center.
While the vault is open to deposits from around the world, contributing countries retain ownership and control over their deposited seeds.
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