Svalbard Global Seed Vault

Arctic · seeds · backup · survival

Seeds from everywhere. The vault stores seeds from thousands of different crop varieties from nearly every country on Earth. It's like a giant library of food plants, keeping copies safe so if a crop is lost anywhere, we have backup seeds.

Frozen in the Arctic. The vault is buried deep inside a mountain on Spitsbergen, a Norwegian island near the North Pole. The super cold Arctic climate helps keep the seeds alive and healthy for hundreds of years.

Super secure storage. The seeds sit in sealed containers in a specially designed underground room that's protected like a fortress. If anything ever happens to seed banks around the world, this vault makes sure we don't lose those plants forever.

Countries working together. The vault is run by Norway, the Crop Trust, and a Nordic genetic organization all working as partners. Countries send their most important seeds here to protect them for the future.

Future food security. Even though we hope we never need to use these seeds, they're there as insurance for humanity. If climate change or disasters ever threaten our crops, these backup seeds could help us grow food again.