The Svalbard Global Seed Vault – is it important for plant genetic resources?
Roland von Bothmer
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Svalbard Global Seed Vault, NordGen, Sweden
The domestication of crops some 10 000 years ago lead to a process to a considerable increase in genetic variation. The process included major genetic changes in several adaptive traits. To be transferred from a state of adaptation for competition in natural habitats to an environment dominated by human interaction meant considerable genetic shifts. The domestication influenced major genetic systems such as reproduction and dispersal mechanisms, life forms, growth habits etc. The initial phase of domestication was followed by rapid migration and adaptation to completely new areas and environments. Unconscious and conscious selection lead to the establishment of a great number of locally and regionally adapted landraces. The great diversity was a starting point for modern plant breeding in the end of the 19th century. What has happened during later decades is that the great genetic variation established over centuries and millennia has diminished, due to “genetic erosion”.
The international genebank movement started comparatively late. The great Russian pioneer N. I. Vavilov developed the basic concepts with worldwide collections and conservation of plant genetic resources (PGR). In later decades a great number of genebanks have been established. Collecting expeditions in remote areas have been carried out and the current number of genebank holdings exceeds 7 million, mainly of the world’s major crops. However, this figure includes an unknown number of duplications. Since there are a number of unforeseen, serious problems facing the genebanks today there is an increasing demand for a worldwide back up system for storing safety duplications. The Global Seed Vault at Svalbard was established four years ago with the objective to store all unique accessions of the world, which has been estimated to between 3 and 4 millions. The remote and exotic location of Svalbard at 78o N puts a particular focus on the necessity for conservation and utilization of plant genetic resources to fight the big challenges of the world: overpopulation, hunger, climate change and a sustainable long term production of food. A number of international agreements and treaties regulate the access to and utilization of PGR.
