02-08 MARCH 2020 BIGISSUE.COM| 25
ThepresidentofGhana,NanaAkufo-Addo,an
advocateoftheUN’sSustainableDevelopmentGoals,
hasalsotravelledtoSvalbard.Atthesummitearlierin
thedayhespokeoftheprecariouspositionmanynations
findthemselvesin:“We knowthatclimatechangehasa
significantimpacton agriculture aroundtheworld.In my
own country,wherewe are gettingrecurrentdroughtsand
floods,thethreattotraditionalagricultureisreal.”
Ghanaisnotanisolatedcase.Seventypercentof
Myanmar’spopulation, 80 percentofMali’sand 90 per
centof Burundi’sdependon agriculturetomakealiving,so
researchersfromthesecountriesaredepositingvarieties
oftheirmostresilientcrops.Morethan halftheworld’s
population– aroundthreebillionpeople– relyonricefor
8 0percentoftheirdietaryintake, sotheInternationalRice
ResearchInstitutebasedinthePhilippineshascreated
testboxesofdifferentvarietiesof ricethatwillbestored
inSvalbardfor between10and 40 yearstotesthow well
they’llgerminateinthefuture. Genebanksfrom Indiaand
Moroccoare focussingon seedsthatcouldprovecrucialin
theincreasinglydrytropics, hometotwo billion people,
664million ofthemimpoverishedandrelyingontheland.
The GlobalSeedVaultmightseemlike excessive
preparation againstscenariosthatmightnevercometo
pass,butitscollectionshavealreadyprovedvital.The
seedcollection oftheInternationalCentre for Agricultural
ResearchintheDryAreas(ICARDA)includes 8 0,000
samplesstoredinSvalbard,includingmanyplantsextinct
intheirnaturalhabitats. Like othergenebanks,the
seedsintheVaultwere simplyaback-up.Unfortunately,
ICARDA’sown storagefacilitywaslocatedinAleppoand
lostduringtheSyrian conflictin2012.
“The governmentarmycapturedtheICARDApremises
inSyria,” AhmedAmriof ICARDAsays. “Wedonotknow in
whichstatethegenebankisnow.
“The ICARDAgenebankinAleppoheld141,052
accessions. In 200 8 ,we startedsendingseedduplicates
toSvalbard.Now, we have retrievedallduplicateseed
samplesstoredandare regeneratingabout30,000of
themeachyear.”
Infiveyears ICARDAhasalreadymanagedto
takearound 8 1,000seedsamplesfromitsnew
basesinMoroccoandLebanonandredepositthem
backinSvalbard.
DrChrisCockelfromtheRoyalBotanicGardens, Kew
is one of the representatives from the UK. Kew has its own
storagefacility,witheven moreseedsstoredintheMillennium SeedBankinSussexthan
there areinSvalbard.But,asCockelpointsout:“Theimportantthingisnottoputallyour
seedsinone basket.”
Althoughitcouldn’tberevealeduntiltheseedswere safelyinSvalbard,theteam from
Kew branchhasaspecialmission, here on hismajesty’ssecretservice.
“We’rebasicallyactingasthemiddlepersonbetweenSvalbardandthePrinceof Wales'
estate,” Cockeldivulges.
Kew’spackagecontains27wildplantspeciesfrom meadows attheRoyalGardensat
Highgrove.Hisroyalhorticulturistsaidinastatement:“Iamdelightedthatseedsfrom
thewildflower meadows atHighgrovearetobesafelystoredintheSvalbardGlobalSeed
Vault...It’smoreurgentthan everthatwe actnowtoprotectthisdiversitybeforeitreallyis
toolate. ThereforetheSeedVaultandseedbanksaroundtheworldplaya vital role in this
criticallyimportantmission.”
WhatPrinceCharlessaidtotheplantsthemselves wedon’tknow.
DrChrisCockelleadsaprojectatKew studyinghow agriculture can adapttoclimate
change,drawinguponthewildrelatives of 29ofthemostcriticalfoodcrops,from alfalfa
towheat.
“The materialwe’re gettingfromthePrinceof Walesisinlinewiththat,” Cockelsays.
“Whiletheymaynotappeartobeimportantfor globalfoodsecurity,there are some
species there, for instance wildcarrot,thatcan beusedinbreedingprogrammesto
makecropsbetteratadaptingtoclimatechangeandresist
pestsanddiseases.”
InsteadoftheSvalbardGlobalSeedVaultbeinganinsurance
policyagainstArmageddon, Cockelsaysit’smoreaboutpreserving
life andfoodaswe knowit.Aswellasstoringseeds, genebanks
aroundtheworldsendsamplestoeach othertofurtherthe
researchandensurefoodsecurity.
“Theideaistorestore someofthoseimportantgeneticsthat
have beenlostintheprocessofdomestication. It’snotproducing
anythingthat’sgeneticallymodified,it’sjustusingbreeding
methodsthatpeoplehaveusedforthousandsofyearstoimprove
theircrops.
“Previouslymostoftheeffortwas putintoproducinghigh-
yieldingvarietiesandfeedingmorepeople. Butthatprocesshas
actuallyresultedinsomeofthecropsbecomingmorevulnerable
topestsanddiseasesastheirgeneticmake-uphasbecome
narrowerandnarrower.
“Theirwildrelatives have survived,overlookedandoften
thoughtof asweeds. We’renotproducingnewsuperfoods, but
carrotsthatin20years’timewilllookthesameascarrotswe have
now. Theymightjustbebetteradaptedtoadrierclimate.”
So whethersuddenglobalcatastropheortheworsening
climatecrisiscomestothreatenalllife onthisplanet, at least we
knowwheretogotosowthe seeds of recovery.@stevenmackenzieTwobytwo
ÅsmundAsdal,
theGlobalSeed
Vault’svery
own NoahNo,notBond
The130-metre
tunnelleadsto
thestoragefacility
inside a mountainImage:Global Seed Vault/ Riccardo GangaleImage:Global Seed Vault/ Riccardo Gangale