View from the Svalbard Global Seed Vault
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Transcript View from the Svalbard Global Seed Vault
Svalbard Global Seed Vault –
a back-up seed bank for the
world’s crop genetic resources
Tore Skrøppa
Nordic Genetic Resource Centre –
NordGen
Vision
- A global security net
• Safeguard a
complete set of the
world’s most
important
accessions of plant
genetic resources
for food and
agriculture
• SGSV will provide
the securest possible
back-up site for a
rational, effective,
efficient and
sustainable global
system for
conserving crop
diversity and making
it available
Opening 26th of February 2008
Where?
Svalbard, Norway
74-81° North, 1035 ° East
Why Svalbard Global Seed Vault?
Good management to safely back-up
unique collections
Gene banks are vulnerable to
- Civil strife and war
- Natural disasters
- Lack of adequate funding
The time was ripe: The International Treaty
provides a framework for collaboration.
A part of the global system
In-situ
• Wild protected areas
• On-farm conservation
Ex-situ
Gene banks (seeds and
cryo preservation)
Field collections
International Policy Framework
• The Convention on Biological Diversity
(CBD) 1993 and the International Treaty on
Plant Genetic Resources for Food and
Agriculture (ITPGRFA) 2004
• Same objectives: Conservation, sustainable
use and fair and equitable sharing of
benefits derived from their use
The Structure
Storage halls embedded in solid rock
(120 m into the mountainside)
130 m above sea (above worst case climate change
scenario)
Geologically stable location
Temperature maintained at -18°C
Permafrost provides natural freeze guarantee at
-4 °C in the event of equipment failure
Monitoring and surveillance with gas-, temperatureand motion- detectors
The Organization
• The Norwegian
government: the
liable national
authority
• NordGen:
responsibility for
the management
and operation
• The Global Crop
Diversity Trust:
Funding the
maintenance and
operation. Funding
shipment of seeds
from eligible
collections
• International Advisory
Council oversees the
operation of the Vault
NordGen
Operation
PGR of importance to food security
and sustainable agriculture
Accessions in two conventional
long-term gene banks elsewhere
Build on in-trust collections (article
15 in ITPGRFA)
Expansion: Unique genetic material
-avoiding duplication as far as
feasible
Terms
Signing of Standard Deposit
Agreement
Deposition consistent with
international law
Conditions
Storage free of charge for public and
private holders of PGRFA
Black box -will never be opened
Viability testing - regeneration –
multiplication responsibility remains
with the depositor
Information access on public online
data portal
Withdrawal on request
Should seed lots of forest tree
species be stored at SGSV?
Purpose
Back-up storage for research to monitor
long term changes in genetic diversity
Conservation of threatened populations
- which species?
- conifers or broad-leaved?
- long term storage conditions?
View from the Svalbard Global Seed Vault
Thank you!
.seedvault.no
Seed Portal: www.nordgen.org/sgsv