Friday, February 29, 2008

A Global Seed Vault


The Svalbard Global Seed Vault, or the Doomsday Vault as the media have nicknamed it, will be the ultimate safety net for the world’s most important natural resource. It had its official opening on Feb. 26, 2008.

The Seed Vault is managed under terms spelled out in a tripartite agreement between the Norwegian government, the Global Crop Diversity Trust and the Nordic Gene Bank (a cooperative effort of the Nordic countries under the Nordic Council of Ministers). The Norwegian government has funded all of the approximately $8 million construction cost. The Global Crop Diversity Trust has played a key role in the planning of the Seed Vault and is coordinating shipments of seed samples to the Vault in conjunction with the Nordic Gene Bank.

The Trust will provide most of the annual operating costs for the facility, and has set aside endowment funds to do so, while the Norwegian government will finance upkeep of the structure itself. The Gates Foundation has provided approximately $750,000 to assist developing countries and international agricultural research centers to package and ship seeds to the Seed Vault. An International Advisory Council is being established to provide guidance and advice. It will include representatives from FAO, the CGIAR, the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources and other institutions. The vault is located on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen near the town of Longyearbyen (population 1900) in the remote arctic Svalbard archipelago. The island is about 1,120 km from the North Pole.

The world's seed collections are vulnerable to a wide range of threats - civil strife, war, natural catastrophes, and more routinely but no less damagingly, poor management, lack of adequate funding, and equipment failures. Unique varieties of our most important crops are lost whenever any such disaster strikes, and therefore securing duplicates of all collections in a global facility provides an insurance policy for the world’s food supply.

The seed vault is an answer to a call from the international community to provide the best possible assurance of safety for the world’s crop diversity, and in fact the idea for such a facility dates back to the 1980s. However, it was only with the coming into force of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources, and an agreed international legal framework for conserving and accessing crop diversity, that the seed vault became a practical possibility. The vault is being dug into a mountainside near the village of Longyearbyen, Svalbard. Construction is due to be completed in September 2007. Svalbard is a group of islands nearly a thousand kilometres north of mainland Norway. Remote by any standards, Svalbard’s airport is in fact the northernmost point in the world to be serviced by scheduled flights – usually one a day. For nearly four months a year the islands are enveloped in total darkness. It is here that the Norwegian government has built the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, to provide this ultimate safety net for the world’s seeds.

Permafrost and thick rock will ensure that even without electricity, the samples will remain frozen. The vault’s construction has been funded by the Norwegian government as a service to the world community. The Global Crop Diversity Trust considers the vault an essential component of a rational and secure global system for conserving the diversity of all our crops. The Trust is therefore committed to supporting ongoing operational costs, and is assisting developing countries with preparing, packaging and transporting their representative seeds to the Arctic. Find out more about this international project at http://www.croptrust.org/

Research info gathered at: www.wikipedia.org

Now, here's one of my poems intnet on going to seed:


Busenfreund

A clould shaped like an elephant's head.

Birds, smitten with wings and throat-calls.

Foilage with the unique ability to back-stroke.

A tunnel cut through one lust green mountain.

Soft pink blossoms intnet on survival.

The prime and painted nailheads of the moon.

A complete habitat in a shoebox, underneath my bed.


Poem published at: www.angelfire.com/zine/bluefifth/Winter2008/poems2W08.html
Visit my ezine: http://www.concelebratory.blogspot.com/
and music blog: http://www.medleymakers.blogspot.com/

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey there! Someone in my Facebook group shared
this website with us so I came to take a look. I'm definitely enjoying the information. I'm book-marking
and will be tweeting this to my followers! Excellent blog and
excellent design.

My weblog ... http://www.freehookupnow.com/profile.php?ID=16071

Anonymous said...

Excellent post. Keep writing such kind of information on your site.
Im really impressed by your site.
Hello there, You've done a fantastic job. I will definitely digg it and for my part recommend to my friends. I'm confident they will be
benefited from this site.

Feel free to surf to my blog post ... the teen

Anonymous said...

Asking questions are in fact nice thing if you are not understanding anything totally, but this article offers fastidious understanding even.


Also visit my web-site :: grants
Also see my site - in Scholarships

Anonymous said...

Hey there would you mind letting me know which hosting
company you're utilizing? I've loaded your blog in
3 completely different browsers and I must say this blog loads a lot faster
then most. Can you suggest a good hosting provider at a
reasonable price? Thanks a lot, I appreciate it!

Visit my site - http://chatclimax.com/free-videochat/MISTRESLOVE
Also see my web page > Origins: Yvonne

Anonymous said...

Hi to all, the contents existing at this site are truly remarkable for people experience, well, keep
up the nice work fellows.

my weblog - at Euro Gangbang Session Takes It To This Babes Ass Then Her Mouth

Anonymous said...

We are a group of volunteers and starting a new scheme in our community.
Your web site provided us with valuable info to work
on. You have done an impressive job and our entire community will be thankful to you.


Look into my blog post: more

Anonymous said...

I would like to thank you for the efforts you have put
in penning this website. I really hope to view the same high-grade content by you later
on as well. In truth, your creative writing
abilities has inspired me to get my very own blog now ;)

Feel free to surf to my webpage click here

Anonymous said...

What a material of un-ambiguity and preserveness of precious experience about unexpected emotions.


My blog post ... usa chat

Anonymous said...

I think the admin of this website is really working hard in support
of his web site, since here every material is quality based
data.

Feel free to surf to my website - http://zakshare.com/index.php?do=/profile-38442/info/

Anonymous said...

A person essentially lend a hand to make severely posts I'd state. That is the very first time I frequented your web page and thus far? I amazed with the analysis you made to make this actual publish incredible. Wonderful activity!

Also visit my page see more

Anonymous said...

Every weekend i used to go to see this site, as i wish for enjoyment, as this this website conations
actually fastidious funny information too.

Look into my blog post ... http://www.pornharvest.com

Anonymous said...

Pretty! This has been an extremely wonderful post. Many
thanks for providing these details.

my web page - see more

Anonymous said...

hi!,I love your writing very so much! share we keep in touch extra approximately your
article on AOL? I need a specialist on this area to solve my
problem. Maybe that's you! Having a look ahead to see you.

my weblog: nightline chat - chatclimax.com

Anonymous said...

I'm not sure where you are getting your info, but good topic. I needs to spend some time learning much more or understanding more. Thanks for magnificent information I was looking for this info for my mission.

My web-site uae chat

Anonymous said...

If you wish for to increase your experience only keep visiting this web page and be updated with the hottest gossip posted here.


Check out my website Had Me Going

Anonymous said...

Ahaa, its nice conversation about this article here at this weblog,
I have read all that, so at this time me also
commenting here.

Feel free to surf to my page - lidija seduction by the sea

Anonymous said...

After checking out a handful of the blog articles on your blog, I really like your technique of writing a blog.
I saved as a favorite it to my bookmark webpage list and will be checking back in the near future.
Take a look at my web site as well and let me know
what you think.

Look into my weblog - http://www.adya.ir/index.php?do=/blog/950/why-folks-however-get-porn-website-memberships/

Anonymous said...

What's up mates, good post and fastidious arguments commented at this place, I am in fact enjoying by these.

Also visit my blog: http://pornharvest.com/index.php?m=2084300