Samples of Lithuanian plant seeds were handed over to the Global Seed Vault in the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard on June 9. The storage of duplicates will ensure that seeds could be retrieved and reproduced in Lithuania if necessary, according to the Environment Ministry.
The Svalbard Seed Vault is the largest such facility in the world. It holds over a million samples of plant seeds and other genetic resources from more than 200 countries.
The repository is located in the permafrost mountains and is built 100 meters inside a sandstone mountain.
Lithuania’s State Forest Service and the Environment Ministry handed over seeds of 123 plant varieties for storage in Svalbard. One hundred grams of each type of seed were deposited. They could be retrieved and restored if necessary.
The example of the war in Ukraine, where Russian forces destroyed the Ukrainian seed vault, has demonstrated that it is necessary to store and protect critical resources outside the country, according to the Environment Ministry.
“Storing genetic information is very important because if something happens, we can restore it – it’s like having a backup. We hope we won’t need to use it, but if we do, it’s in the safest place in the world,” said Deputy Environment Minister Danas Augutis.
At the Svalbard repository, the seeds are stored in a safe, like in a bank, meaning that only the institution that has deposited the seeds can retrieve them. However, the criteria for accepting the seeds are set by Norway, which is the owner of the repository.
“Seeds and their genetic resources need to be available for reproduction and research. So, the countries and institutions that entrust us with seeds must also ensure that they keep samples of the same seeds in their own country. We also do not accept seed collections held by private individuals or seeds from genetically modified organisms,” said Asmund Asdal, coordinator of the Global Seed Vault.
In the almost 15 years of the repository’s operation, the seeds had to be returned only once.
“The first and so far only request for seed samples was made by the International Centre for Agricultural Research when its headquarters in Aleppo, Syria, was destroyed. Fortunately, they had entrusted us with most of the important seed samples they had and replanted the seeds taken from Svalbard in Morocco and Lebanon. The varieties have been successfully restored,” Asdal said.
Ukraine, the seed bank of which was recently bombed by Russia, also has around 2,000 seed samples of 700 plant varieties in the Svalbard vault.
But war is just one reason why this type of storage is needed.
“The genetic resources and their valuable qualities that are stored here could be irreplaceable in the world’s fight against climate change. Seed storage is the key to future food supplies,” said Grethe Helene Evjen of the Norwegian Ministry of Agriculture.
The storage facilities are kept at a temperature of minus 18 degrees Celsius. This slows down the ageing of the seeds. The permafrost surrounding the storage facility would help keep the temperature low in the event of a power outage.
Lithuania’s plant seed collection will be stored indefinitely in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. Every few decades, seed samples will need to be renewed. (LRT/Business World Magazine)
