Who Has The Keys To The Vault?

 Refugees have been leaving their homeland in Syria in a continuous stream as chaos, death and destruction has replaced all vestiges of civility. Whole villages have been decimated and the battles appear to be unending.

Wreckage, and destruction has covered the landscape and remaining villagers  have little food for their families and farmers have little hope of planting for the upcoming season . They have nothing to plant, resulting in nothing expected to be produced. Farmers need seeds to plant. There is one chance  for Syrian farmers to find seeds to plant for  season crops and that all-important seed storage area is at Aleppo, the  Syrian capitol

Aleppo, Syria

 has unfortunately been the scene of armed conflict dangerous to everyone. Farmers are discovering a very short supply to plant due to this damaged seed supply. Although some seeds stored in the Aleppo seed vaults are available, many have been damaged by the loss of electricity that controls thermostats for the containers, destroying the quality of much of  the seed bank.

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Aleppo is one of several banks of seeds that are withdrawn when needed. This vault of seeds is one of several maintained by “the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas”, or ICARDA” in areas across North Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia .
This organization maintains seed vaults of more than 100,000 different samples of crops that farmers have planted in these regions for thousands of years. As worries of armed conflict increased, officials decided to take action and  workers began transferring stored seeds from Aleppo to other storage areas.

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 Before the situation in Syria deteriorated in early 2012, ICARDA staff members have duplicated 26,000 samples and transferred them to Turkey and Lebanon.When civil war erupted in Syria, 141,000 packets of   

the valuable seeds were sitting in cold storage nineteen miles south of Aleppo.  They included ancient varieties of wheat and durum dating back nearly to the dawn of agriculture in the Fertile Crescent, and one of the world’s largest collections of lentil, barley, and  bean varieties, crops that feed millions of people worldwide every day. As  destruction increased, a safe haven for storage was needed quickly.
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A cold storage facility was needed and there was one that would fulfill their needs.

On a remote Arctic island off  Norway’s coast, there's a underground vault filled with seeds, sometimes called the Doomsday Vault. Scientists have been filling that vault with seeds which could be used to grow vital crops for decades. It was decided to store Syrian seeds in this Norwegian seed-vault.

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Since 2012, ICARDA has continued to add duplicate samples at Norway's Global Seed Vault carved into the side and interior of a frozen mountain.

The Svalbard Vault burrows deep into the mountain located in the Norwegian-controlled archipelago  called Svalbard, which is Norwegian for "cold coast." This seed vault has been designed to be colder than the permafrost. In the event that the earth warms and the power goes out, the vault will stay frozen for another 25 years.Permafrost and thick rock ensure that the seed samples will remain frozen even

without power and is known as the "world's largest, secure seed storage vault."

 Opened by the Norwegian Government in February 2008, crates of seeds from around the globe are sent here for safe and secure long-term storage .This Seed Bank was established and is fully funded by the Norwegian government, with the responsibility of The Ministry of Agriculture and Food. 
Since it’s establishment in 2008, countries have been utilizing this storage facility with confidence and no one has needed to remove their contribution, insuring continuation of food for the future.

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However, the chaos and destruction in Syria  and surrounding areas has alarmed officials, and thoughts of  upcoming meager crop yields are causing concerns for area residents. It may be time for action, once again and scientists decide to make the first ever withdrawal from the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. The purpose of  'The Vault'  is to store duplicates (backups) of seed samples from the world's crop collections. But now, less than 10 years after the opening, officials  withdraw seeds for the first time.

Transporting seeds from Aleppo

"We did not expect a retrieval this early," Crop Trust spokesman Brian Lainoff told NPR. "But we knew in 2008 that Syria was in for an interesting couple of years."  ICARDA has requested 130 boxes out of 325 it had deposited in the vault, containing a total of 116,000 samples. They knew they would need more seeds to re-establish crops lost during the war, and in order to plant these “Warm Climate”seeds,  they must be planted in a warm country.

 Norway is not that country, so it has been determined that the new planting will be in Morocco, where  scientists in Morocco and Lebanon will grow new plants  for the expected harvest of duplicate copies.

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Newly produced seeds will then be sent to Syria and a portion will go back to Svalbard to replace and store the valuable seeds — just in case there's another emergency. New plants and food for Syria.

             Thanks to The Doomsday Vault in Svalbard, Norway.

 

The bank that really DOES pay interest!