Stowing the seeds
Cary Fowler, executive director of the Global Crop Diversity Trust, tells all about an agricultural-seed vault that will be carved into a Norwegian Arctic mountainside.

Up Here: Why the need for a seed bank in the High Arctic?

Cary Fowler: It’s like a safety backup for all the other seed banks in the world (roughly 1,400). But it’s not just in the event of an apocalypse. This morning we got word that the seed bank in the Philippines was damaged by a typhoon. If we’d built this vault 10 years ago, we probably would’ve used it five times by now to replenish seeds lost in Afghanistan, Iraq, Rwanda, etc.

UH: Talk about the security features of this vault.

CF: The biggest safety feature is the location. Svalbard (Arctic Norway) is a long way from anything, and suspicious people will be visible. Plus the vault will be carved into a mountain and surrounded by a fence and electronic sensing devises. There’ll be two doors, one on the outside and an interior airlock door that leads to the vault.

UH: Won’t roaming polar bears provide enough security?

CF: Sure, the polar bears will deter some people. But they’re not always around.

UH: It’s ironic that you’ve chosen such a barren locale to store the world’s agricultural history. But what if the Arctic melts as some scientists predict?

CF: We’re not offering the perfect scenario. But, the vault will be inside a mountain, and there’ll be a metre of concrete on all sides, as well as artificial refrigeration. It’ll be the best insulated-freezer in the world.

UH: I’ve read you’ll be storing staple crop varieties like rice and wheat, but what about fruits like pomegranates and pears?

CF: Some crops can’t be stored as seeds in the freezer, like the fruits you’ve just mentioned. So the vault will hold some three million seeds of mostly grains, legumes and vegetables.

UH: Who will hold the keys to this state-of-the-art seed trove?

CF: We’re still working that out. We want them to be pretty spread out.

UH: I guess a copy won’t be dangling on your key chain?

CF: Uh, no, not likely.