Monday, February 25, 2008

Formal opening of the Doomsday seed vault

Life in the cold store

This week sees the formal opening of a vault designed to protect and preserve samples of valuable seeds. The "Doomsday" vault in Svalbard can store more than four million batches of seeds, including the world's major crop varieties. BBC environment correspondent Sarah Mukherjee is in Svalbard for the opening. The major underground vault that has been under construction the last couple of years in the Arctic and that will preserve crops from all over the world in case of future natural or man-made disasters will officially open Tuesday. Dignitaries such as Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai will be present as the Svalbard Global Seed Vault opens its doors to millions of seeds from almost every countr More >>>