Global seed vault dispatches first ever grain shipment
Source: The Guardian
Global seed vault dispatches first ever grain shipment
Suzanne Goldenberg
Monday 19 October 2015 19.52 BST
It was meant to be the ultimate insurance policy against a catastrophe that could wipe out the world’s food supply. Now the global seed vault – a repository burrowed deep into the frozen hillside of the closest town to the north pole – has issued its first down-payment on that legacy.
The caretakers of the vault, situated on the Svalbard peninsula in the high Arctic, said yesterday that they had dispatched the first shipment of seeds to try to regenerate ancient food crops lost during Syria’s civil war.
The seeds – including varieties of wheat, barley, lentils, chickpeas and the wild versions of pulses and cereals – were copies of those originally held at an international research facility in Aleppo, Syria, that had been deposited in the vault for safekeeping.
The seeds were withdrawn from the Svalbard vault and shipped to Lebanon and Morocco, the trust which manages the facility said on Monday.
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Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/19/arctic-seed-vault-dispatches-first-grain-shipment
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The last of the Syria's ancient food crop seeds has been destroyed by thieves.
The smugglers are said to have connections to the ivory poaching trade and black market dealers who sell goods thought to possess fertility and sexual potency. The seeds are said to have been ground into a floury powder and snorted or added to soup. They were the last of their kind.
To date, of the 82 ancient seed shipments sent out thus far, all but five have been diverted through black market theft and poaching.
