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Witness History: The Arctic’s doomsday seed vault

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The Arctic’s doomsday seed vault

31/01/2024 GMT

BBC World Service - Witness History, The Arctic’s doomsday seed vault

In 2008, seeds began arriving at a frozen vault designed to save the world’s food supply

In 2008, a plan to protect the world’s food in the event of global catastrophe reached fruition.

In January 2008, seeds began arriving at the world's first global seed vault, buried deep in a mountain on an Arctic island, 1,000km north of the Norwegian coast.

The vault was built to ensure the survival of the world's food supply and agricultural history in the event of a global catastrophe.

In 2019, Louise Hidalgo spoke to the man whose idea it was, Dr Cary Fowler.

(Photo: Journalists and cameramen outside the entrance of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in 2008. Credit: Hakon Mosvold Larsen/AFP/Getty Images)

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