There’s an odd piece on the proposed genebank on the Norwegian island of Svalbard at a web site called Science and Spirit. The authors outline the background and purpose of the “Doomsday” genebank, which is being promoted by the Global Crop Diversity Trust and have a little fun with the notion that post-catastrophe survivors will know how to get to Svalbard and what to do with the seeds they find there, always presuming they can penetrate the concrete vault without a key. Then they segue into a lament for the loss of Biblical varieties, which might have contained cures for diseases. It’s all very odd, but like the lady said, all publicity is good publicity. Come to think of it, how will survivors of a calamity make use of the Noah’s Ark genebank on Svalbard?
The Global Crop Diversity Trust, established in October 2004 as an independent international organization under international law, which mission is to ensure the conservation and availability of crop diversity for food security worldwide, is engaged in a gigantic endeavour: to provide the best possible assurance of safety for the world’s crop diversity. To attain that objective, the Trust is encouraging all Nations of the World to place a “copy†of their germplasm collections in safety duplication in a safe heaven, The Svalbard Global Seed Vault, or the Doomsday Vault, as some have nicknamed it.
The vault is near the village of Longyearbyen, Svalbard, a group of islands almost a thousand kilometres north of mainland Norway, where, nearly four months a year there is a total darkness. Permafrost and many meters thick rock ensure that even in the event of lack of electricity, the samples will remain frozen.
Well, it all seems perfect then. Safe heaven for the World’s biodiversity, low cost maintenance and, as it was widely publicised, safe in all senses as, and I cite: “Scientists to Employ Arctic Ice and Polar Bears To Protect Diversity of World’s Crops†and; “… In addition to a strong security door and perimeter fence, the facility’s remote location will enhance its security, as will the incredibly cold winters, ice flows, and the presence of Norwegian authorities. Facility planners also cite the ubiquitous presence of polar bears, not known for their hospitality toward humans, as a security measure.â€
The Trust’s web site (http://www.croptrust.org/main/arctic.php?itemid=217#) has been showing pictures about the state of the advancement of the works from the Svalbard Global Seed Vault construction site.
Some of that pictures and some video footage, depict, and again, I cite: “the first blastingâ€; “Lighting the fuseâ€; “Preparing to blast the tunnelâ€; Digging begunâ€, just to name a few. And now I ask: What about the polar bears? Are they deaf? Are they accustomed to human presence and diatribes, so they don’t care? Or else … they have been sent on holidays while they blast and dig?
Are we saving some biodiversity in detriment of another? Are some making true the saying “the way to hell is paved with good intentions�
No, I don’t think so. There must be a very good and plausible explanation…