"Norway will develop a safety net for key global food supplies by collecting agricultural seeds for a depot on its remote Svalbard Islands in the Arctic, the government announced Thursday. The Arctic seed bank, to open next year, is intended to protect the genetic materials of critical world food crops from such threats as plant epidemics, climate change, war and natural disasters, a foreign ministry news release said.
"The depot will be unique in the world," the ministry said in a statement. "The depot will have examples of seeds that are already stored in gene banks in other parts of the world, and will serve as an extra safety net for the world's food supplies." The Svalbard Archipelago, some 300 miles north of the mainland, was selected because of its remote location, cold climate and permafrost.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Wera Helstroem said many details still have to be settled, since the project has just been approved. But she said it was already clear that the facility will include about 20 million kroner ($3 million) in new infrastructure. "Svalbard is an ideal location for such a facility," Helstroem told The Associated Press. "Norway is also seen as a good place, because it has a stable society and democracy."
The number of seeds, and types of plants, will be determined by the countries deciding to use the seed bank, she said. Norway intends to ease any concerns about ownership by operating the seed depot as if it were a bank vault."
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