Ukraine deposits seed samples in Svalbard Global Seed Vault

Ukraine has deposited 773 seed samples into the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in the Norwegian Arctic for the first time since 2012. The collection includes various varieties of sunflowers, cereals, buckwheat, and forage plants.

This move follows Ukraine's accession to an international agreement on plant genetic resources negotiated by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. The decision comes after the national gene bank in Kharkiv, eastern Ukraine, suffered infrastructure damage due to Russian shelling in 2022, forcing the collection to be moved to western parts of the country to avoid the front lines.

Located approximately 1,300 kilometers from the North Pole, the Svalbard facility acts as a plant “Noah’s Ark,” designed to protect global crop biodiversity against wars, natural disasters, diseases, and climate change. The vault currently houses over 1.4 million samples from around the world.