ABOUT SVALBARD
Svalbard is a Norwegian group of islands to the Northeast of Greenland in the Arctic. Next stop is the North Pole. People from all over the world come to study the Arctic, the ocean and global warming here. There are just short of 3,000 inhabitants of Svalbard.
Longyearbyen is the main town with 2,100 inhabitants and 40 nationalities represented. It used to be a mining town, but only one of the coal mines is active today, mine #7. Svalbard is one of the most pristine places on earth with its glaciers and protected population of polar bears, whales, rare birds, walruses, seals, whales and reindeer with extremely short legs, all in breathtaking nature. There are no trees on Svalbard. The tallest “tree” is smaller than a strain of grass. The Svalbard Global Seed Vault is situated here where all the seeds of the world are frozen in the permafrost to safeguard against extinction.
Welcome to a land so pure that it touches your soul.
The Svalbard Global Seed Vault
The Svalbard Global Seed Vault is a secure seed bank on Svalbard and its one of the most secure secret places on the planet. The Vault provides secure protection to the world´s most diverse crop seed collection. The Vault is built deep into a mountain in this remote location, hundreds of feet below permafrost, and is designed to preserve 4.5 million seed specimens – every crop currently growing on the planet. As farming becomes increasingly homogenous, and the climate becomes alarmingly unpredictable, this preserve provides a vital “back-up” of genetic information needed to ensure the future of our food.
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You can read further about the history of the Trust and the Vault here:
http://time.com/doomsday-vault/. The Vault itself is closed for visitors this year.