Total recall

7,000 plant species for food but today around 20 species provide 90 per cent of the global human diet. Of the 7,100 varieties of apple recorded in America a century ago, 6,800 have now been lost. And there are worries, for example, that the maize staple in southern Africa may be under increasing challenge from climate change. Svalbard provides " the last line in the defence against the extinction of our agricultural diversity, " says Cary Fowler, director of the GCDT. According to Fowler, maintaining agricultural diversity is essential to protect our supply. The Vault's purpose is " to help farmers and to help agriculture adapt to climate, pests and diseases, droughts, and whatever demands we are going to have to make of agriculture including feeding more people. " The vault's managers hope the location and long-term funding will ensure its value. Other seed banks around the world exist in more vulnerable locations. The seed bank at Abu Graib in Iraq, which contained rare varieties of wheat, lentil and chickpea, was destroyed in 2003, and two years earlier the Taliban in Afghanistan destroyed a seed bank containing walnuts, almonds, peaches and other local fruit. And more than two-thirds of the seed collections of the Phillippines' National Plant Genetic Resources Laboratory were lost during a typhoon in 2006. The Svalbard site was chosen because the cold helps the vault be kept at sub-zero temperatures. The island is isolated and away from regions of conflict and the stable and well-respected government of Norway boosts international trust. Norway has funded the construction of the vault with the aid of an internationally funded endowment. The GCDT will run it with the $120,000 annual operating costs and many countries are contributing; Britain is one of the largest, with a commitment of £10 million to the overall budget up until 2011. " I can't think of a better location, " says Fowler. In the unlikely event of extended mechanical breakdown the permafrost surroundings would prevent the vault from reaching more than –3.5ºC, which would be low enough to maintain the viability of most seeds. The Victorians were great collectors of flora and fauna that not only now adorn grand stately homes, but form key components in most natural history museums and provide a unique resource for biological researchers of many interests. But the collections are inevitably limited and many specimens are in a parlous state despite …