Saving Seeds for the Future
Getty Images/AFP Stringer
Seed banks are a way to preserve seeds and plants (despite the name, many seed banks collect plants and grow the seeds, too) in the event of a disaster, like a war or some kind of climate catastrophe. The idea is to protect biodiversity, as well as food sources, so that we don't accidentally completely wipe out a really useful plant by over-harvesting it, or destroying the habitat where it grows.
The Millennium Seed Bank, which is associated with 250-year-old Kew Gardens, announced last week that they have samples of 10 percent of the world's seeds in their vault. Their goal is to collect 25 percent of the world's seeds by 2020!
In a great video from the BBC, shot at the Millennium Seed Bank, the seed processing manager, Janet Terry, walks us through the intake process for seeds. Key learning: seed storage requires a cold environment. The temperature in the vaults is kept at -20 degrees celsius.
The frigid temperatures of the permafrost of northern Norway was one of the reasons it was chosen as the location for the Svalbard Seed Vault. Also known as the "Doomsday Vault", it's basically a safe backup copy of seeds from genebanks around the world. So, if for some reason all of the other samples of a seed are destroyed, someone can go to Norway to get a replacement. Assuming global travel to remote parts of Norway is still possible.
Some days it really does seem like we're bent on destroying all green areas of the world. In a way it's reassuring that someone is thinking about a plan B, just in case we succeed.
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