Svalbard Global Seed Vault Safeguarding Future Food Security PIC Conference 27 September 2017 Lise Lykke Steffensen Nordic Genetic Resource Centre, NordGen
Objective of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault Provide a safety net for the international conservation system of plant genetic resources, and to contribute to the securing of the maximum amount of plant genetic diversity of importance to humanity for the long term
Why conserve crop genetic diversity? The genetic resources are our savings for the future Sustain and increase food production Adaptation to climate changes Bioeconomy and green economy Health aspects and nutritional needs New varieties with resistant genes To sustain culture Plant Genetic Resources: The raw material researchers and plant breeders need to develop agriculture and food production for future demands
Conservation Cultures Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) Global strategy for plant conservation International Treaty on PGRFA In-situ Conservation areas Ex-situ Botanical gardens In-situ Conservation areas / on-farm Ex-situ Genebanks
Global ex-situ system Policy ITPGRFA FAO Institutions CGIAR Crop Trust Regional Networks Genebanks National Regional Universities / NGOs Back-up SGSV
The global system for conservation of PGR
Emmer wheat (Triticum dicoccum) 2n=28 Goatgrass (Aegilops tauschii ) 2n=14 X = Breadwheat (Triticum aestivum) 2n=42 X =
Left; Squarehead master (English variety from 1888) and right Shango (variety from 1995)
Selection for various types in Brassica Wild Brassica terminal buds lateral buds stem leaves stems & flowers flower clusters Cabbage Brussels sprouts Kohlrabbi Kale Broccoli Cauliflower
Why Norway and Svalbard Cold Climate / permafrost Stable geology As far north as possible with a reliable and good infrastructure Airport and Governmental institutions Very low conflict area A natural follow-up on Norways international engagement within global measures within biological diversity The international society trust that Norway will live up to its responsibility and can be trusted in general. NordGen has been operating on Svalbard since the early 1980s with the first safety back up.
History goes back to the 1980 s The need for at global safety net has been discussed sinde early 1980 s Svalbard regarded to be a suitable place Nordic Genebank safety collection in «Gruve 3» from 1985 Norway investigated the posibilities for a global seed storage in 2004 (post finalizing ITPGRFA) Project was announced by the nordic prime ministers in June 2006. Svalbard Global Seed Vault opend February 2008 All genebanks are invited to deposit copies/duplicates of own genebank collections in the Vault
From 1985: Nordic security back-up in Mine #3
The Structure - SGSV Storage halls embedded in solid rock (120m into the mountainside) 130 m above sea (above worst case climate change scenario for sea level rise) Temperature maintained at -18 C Permafrost provides natural freeze guarantee at -4 C in the event of equipment failure Monitoring and surveillance with gas- and temperature- detectors and security camera
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mp MNs9gF07g&feature=youtu.be 17
The Organization The Norwegian government The owner, funder and liable national authority The Global Crop Diversity Trust Co-funder of the Seed Vault operations as part of the global conservation system NordGen Responsible for the management and operation Statsbygg Responsible for servicing and continuous surveillance International Advisory Panel Provide a forum for guidance and inputs to the operation of the Vault
Main principles for SGSV management Free storage of duplicates of gene bank seed samples No transfer of legal ownership Genetic material must available for research, breeding and education (in public domain) Seeds already safety duplicated in a suitable gene bank (Svalbard second back-up) Safety duplicates can be returned to the depositing genebank only
Operations in the Seed vault 1. Seed deposits 2. Withdrawal of seeds (2015 + 2017) 3. Visits (strict visitor policy): a) Politicians, govermental bodies/public agencies b) Media (TV, radio, filmmakers newspapers, magazines etc.) c) Artists (photographers, videoartists, etc.) d) Representatives from depositor gene banks e) Researchers working on related projects Kioumars Ghamkar, manager of Morgot Forde Germplasm Centre, NZ. New depositor in May 2016.
The Svalbard Global Seed Vault is not SGSV is not permanently staffed No lab / no research / no work on seeds Not a place to where individuals or companies can donate seeds Not a place for storing personal precious items Gifts cannot be received and taken care of Not a place where people can be employed / volunteer No guided tours for tourists
In the Seed Vault today: Seed samples: 933,591 Species: > 5000 Institutes: 74
Top 20 crops in the Vault 180000 160000 140000 120000 100000 80000 60000 40000 20000 0
Gene bank Categories National; 284130 University; 7767 NGO; 3857 Private; 7 Regional; 22583 International; 600566 The proportion and numbers of safety duplicates currently deposited in The Vault at the end of 2016 by different types of gene banks.
The ICARDA retrieval of seeds deposited in SGSV ICARDA - The International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas Units in approximately 30 countries, from India (east) to Morocco (west) One of 15 International CGIAR centres Headquarters and gene bank collection in Aleppo, Syria Systematicaly depositing seeds from 2008 to 2014 Deposits pr september 2015: - 116484 accessions of 375 species in 325 boxes Retrieval of seeds in September 2015: Containing 38.073 samples / plant varieties of wheat, barley, lentil, chickpea, faba bean, pea, grass pea and legume forages (Medicago, Trifolium and Vicia)
The ICARDA withdrawal proved the need for the vault and that it is efficient and well funtioning when needed
The next 12 months Deposits in October 2017 and February 2018 10 year celebration in February 2018 Expecting closure the rest of 2018 due to rebuilding 30
Where can information be found? Websites: SGSV official website at LMD https://www.regjeringen.no/en/topics/food-fisheries-andagriculture/landbruk/svalbard-global-seed-vault/id462220/ About SGSV at Crop Trust website https://www.croptrust.org/what-we-do/svalbard-global-seedvault/ NordGen Seed Portal http://www.nordgen.org/sgsv/
Thank you for the attention