Tucked into a Norwegian mountain is a secure seedbank that preserves a wide variety of plant seeds. It was created as an attempt to “…insure against the loss of seeds in other genebanks during large-scale regional or global crises.” It’s kind of a like a modern Noah’s Arc, or in this case, bunker, for agriculture. It is managed under terms spelled out in a tripartite agreement between the Norwegian government, the Global Crop Diversity Trust (GCDT) and the Nordic Genetic Resource Center (NordGen).
The vault completed construction and opened in 2008. The seeds are “…packaged in special four-ply packets and heat sealed to exclude moisture.” “The vault holds over 1.5 million distinct seed samples of agricultural crops, with the capacity to conserve over 4.5 million. The seeds will be stored at -18C to prevent them from germinating. But even if these fans in the cooling system fail, the natural permafrost surrounding the vault will keep them at around -4C.”
The structure was designed by architect Peter W. Søderman Barlindhaug Consult AS, with design of Trond A. Hansen, Louis Lunde, Peter W. Søderman The lighting art installation that runs across the roof was created by Norwegian artist Dyveke Sanne.
More info found here, here, and the offical site.
Images via GCDT flickr