Major deposit in the world’s largest seed collection in the Arctic
“We’re thrilled to support the Crop Trust’s efforts at Svalbard Seed Vault with the launch of GoPro’s short documentary that offers a unique, first-person perspective on the Svalbard Global Seed Vault and its mission. Our production team has spent more than a year filming, editing and interviewing the team, and we’re thrilled that the Crop Trust will use this film to share their story with more people.”
The Crop Trust provides funding and training for routine genebank operations, such as quality and information management. Crop Trust says that without this basic support for diverse varieties of food crops – like the ones that travel to Svalbard – the future of the world’s global food supply is at risk.
The Crop Trust’s funding allows millions of plant genetic resources to be recorded and ultimately shared and used around the world to improve agricultural production and prevent loss of crop diversity in the face of natural disasters, climate change, and war.
A case in point is the work of the International Center for Agriculture Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) previously located in Syria. When fighting struck Aleppo, ICARDA requested its duplicate seeds stored in Svalbard were withdrawn so it could continue its multiplication and breeding efforts in the safer locations of Morocco and Lebanon. Having successfully achieved this through the Crop Trust’s support, a portion of the seeds withdrawn in 2015 are returning to Svalbard today.
Aly Abousabaa, Director General of ICARDA, said:“Collaboration between the Norwegian Government, NordGen, the Crop Trust, CGIAR and ICARDA shows what is possible when international partners come together to find solutions to pressing regional and global challenges. We are demonstrating today that we can rely on our genebanks and their safety duplications, despite adverse circumstances, so we can get one step closer to a food secure world.”
Seed samples for some of the world’s most vital food sources like the potato, sorghum, rice, barley, chickpea, lentil, and wheat will be deposited at Svalbard in the coming days, bringing the total number of seed samples at the facility to 930,821.
A selection of supporting images of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault and the GoPro for a Causedocumentary can be found here.
To view the full GoPro short documentary and contribute to the campaign, please visit: www.gopro.com/goproforacause/croptrust
The Crop Trust is the only international organization devoted solely to ensuring the conservation and availability of crop diversity worldwide. It was initially founded by the UN FAO and Bioversity International on behalf of the global community.
The Svalbard Global Seed Vault is the largest collection of agricultural biodiversity in the world. Located in Longyearbyen, Svalbard, the Seed Vault is owned by the Norwegian government and operated under a three-party agreement between the Norwegian government, NordGen, and the Crop Trust.
