An organization from North Macedonia deposited seeds from an ajvarka red pepper variety used to make a popular traditional relish. This year, new seed deposits of wild strawberries, wheat, maize and rice have joined the ranks of other preserved plants.

Countries deposit copies of the seeds they hold in their own banks, and the Svalbard facility keeps them safe. The contents of this doomsday vault are effectively backup storage for a global network of more than 1,700 smaller vaults called gene banks. “In a world where the climate crisis, biodiversity loss, natural catastrophes and conflicts increasingly destabilize our food systems, it has never been more important to prioritize safeguarding these tiny seeds that hold so much potential to adapt our future food to such global threats.” This seed vault represents hope, unity and security,” says Stefan Schmitz, executive director of the Crop Trust, a co-manager of the vault, in a press release. “From here in Svalbard, the world looks different. Meant to protect crop biodiversity in case of localized catastrophe, this curious depository is often referred to as the “doomsday seed vault.”Ī member of NordGen, the gene bank of the Nordic countries, places a box of seeds in one of the vault chambers. But now, in honor of its 15th anniversary, you can catch a rare glimpse of the vault’s interior through a virtual tour.Ĭarved into Plateau Mountain on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen, it holds more than 1.2 million seed samples from almost every country in the world, including recent first-time depositors Albania, Croatia, North Macedonia and Benin. Only a handful of people are allowed inside the vault, and its five metal doors are only opened a few times each year for new entries of seeds. Large letters on the building’s side hint at the precious collection that’s held within, declaring that here is the entrance to the “ Svalbard Global Seed Vault.” Snow blows across the small metal bridge that leads to its entrance, above which a pattern of steel, mirrors and prisms reflect a ghostly green light. In the frigid Norwegian Arctic, a gray wedge-shaped building protrudes from a mountain.

Doomsday vault withdrawal