The ‘doomsday vault’ stores nearly 100,000 seeds in Korea

Located in a tunnel designed to resist nuclear bombs, the seeds of nearly 5,000 plant species are being kept in South Korea to prevent climate change, natural disasters and war.
Plant extinction is happening at an alarming rate, researchers warn.

The causes of extinction come from population growth, pollution and deforestation. Therefore, in the past time, the “apocalyptic vaults” to store the seeds of the world began to be built. In South Korea, the Baekdudaegan National Arboretum Seed Conservation Center currently preserves nearly 100,000 seeds from 4,751 plant species to ensure they are not affected by “apocalyptic events”. Outside the Baekdudaegan National Arboretum Seed Conservation Center, North Gyeongsang Province. Photo: AFP. Mr. Lee Sang-yong, head of the center, said that this is one of two places to store seeds in the world today. Unlike conventional seed banks, where samples are regularly taken out for different purposes, the seeds in the vault will stay there permanently, only to be used for the purpose of preventing extinction. The safest place in Korea The seed vault was designed by South Korea’s National Intelligence Service as a heavily guarded security facility, surrounded by a wire fence and dozens of cameras. Police regularly patrol the area and filming and photography are limited. Inside, an elevator will lead underground with a depth of about eight floors, to the concrete tunnel in the cave, where heavy steel doors guard the storage room. The storage room will be kept at -20 degrees Celsius with 40% humidity to preserve seeds. Mr. Lee said the bunker was built in “the safest place” in South Korea, designed to withstand a 6.9-magnitude earthquake and even a nuclear attack. “Geographically, it’s very safe,” Mr. Lee said. “We have opened a tunnel 46 meters deep underground to ensure the seed is safe from war and nuclear threats.” The seed samples in the cellar were mostly plants from the Korean peninsula. In addition, with a capacity of 2 million seeds, many countries such as Kazakhstan and Tajikistan also accept requests, sending seeds to this reserve. Countries that send seeds here will have title to those seeds and can receive them back when needed. A researcher is doing experimental planting at the wild plant seed research department. Photo: AFP. However, Mr. Lee said: “The purpose of the seed vault is to prevent their extinction. So the best-case scenario is that the seeds never have to be brought out.” “Run with time” The conservation of the seeds of wild plants – the original source of the crops we eat today – should not be overlooked, the researchers say. However, according to a recent United Nations report, many plants that help people ensure food security are “lacking effective protection.” The report warns against crops that are less resilient to climate change, pests and pathogens, and emphasizes: “The biodiversity of ecosystems, where humanity lives, is declining faster than any other any time in human history”. In its 2020 report, the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, UK, said many species of plants in the wild hold promise for future medicine, fuel and food. However, about two-fifths of them are threatened with extinction, largely due to habitat destruction and climate change. It is a “race against time” to determine which seeds are in danger of extinction before they completely disappear from the world, the report added. However, Na Chae-sun, a senior researcher at the Baekdudaegan National Arboretum, said studies on seeds of wild plants were “very much lacking”. “One might ask why riverside wildflowers are important,” she says. “In fact, the crops we eat today may have descended from this unnamed flower.” A researcher is examining a ‘black box’ containing seeds in a storage room. Photo: AFP. Besides the vault in South Korea, another seed warehouse was also built in the heart of the mountain near the city of Longyearbyen on the island of Spitsbergen in Norway’s Svalbard archipelago, about 1,300 km from the North Pole. Dubbed the “Noah’s Ark” of food crops, the Global Seed Vault is the largest and most famous vault in the world. The facility is focused on preserving agricultural crops and related crops, storing more than a million seed samples from nearly every country on the planet.