Seed Vault in Norway

Kari Snowmobing in Svalbard

Seed vault in Norway

In a remote mountainside on the Norwegian tundra sits the "doomsday vault," a backup against disaster -- man made or otherwise. Inside lives the last hope should the unthinkable occur: a global seed bank that could be used to replant the world.

In a remote mountainside on the Norwegian tundra sits the "doomsday vault," a backup against disaster -- man made or otherwise. Inside lives the last hope should the unthinkable occur: a global seed bank that could be used to replant the world.

It's a modern day Noah's Ark, in other words, full not of animals but of plant life.

The Vault is dug into the Platåberget or plateau mountain near the village of Longyearbyen, Svalbard -- a group of islands north of mainland Norway. The arctic permafrost offers natural freezing for the seeds, while additional cooling brings the temperatures down to minus 0.4 degrees Fahrenheit. Should disaster wipe out a species -- or in the case of a large-scale global crisis -- its stockers hope the seeds stored there could be used to restore life.

This week, the Global Crop Diversity Trust that protects and stocks the vault tucked away new seeds in this modern-day Noah's Ark: mold-resistant beans, a German pink tomato and a wild strawberry plucked from the flanks of a Russian volcano. With these new deposits, the Svalbard "doomsday" Global Seed Vault will store a half-million seed varieties.

The Vault is kept safe by its remote location, for one thing. But if the mountain of snow enshrouding the storage rooms isn't enough protection, what better body guard than one of nature's biggest beasts?

In a remote mountainside on the Norwegian tundra sits the "doomsday vault," a backup against disaster -- a global seedbank that could be used to replant the world.

"The region on Svalbard surrounding the Seed Vault is remote, severe, and inhabited by polar bears," according to the Global Crop Diversity Trust, which helps to support the vault's operations.

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