Monsanto DOESN'T have anything to do with it. They're not funding or participating in it. There's not any evidence to suggest that they even know about it.
You're probably right. Too bad the good guys - those actually doing something to help save biodiversity through the Seed Vault - become just so much "collateral damage." Unfortunately in this world of ours, it's become all too easy to believe dire conspiracy stories, and too difficult to check the facts or believe that something positive could actually be real.
As I have tried to indicate in other posts on this topic, Monsanto has no involvement whatsoever. No involvement in the design, planning, funding, or stocking of the seed vault. NONE. Rumors start and soon get out of control. But, if one wishes to check the facts, take a look at the Norwegian government website:
http://www.regjeringen.no/en/dep/lmd/campain/svalbard-global-seed-vault.html?id=462220
or, look at:
www.croptrust.org
While the media had dubbed this a "Doomsday Vault," the primary utility of the Vault is likely to be to guard against the more extinction that takes places in seed banks as a result of human mismanagement, equipment failures, budget cuts and natural disasters. Given the fact that 6.5 million samples are stored in over 1000 seed banks, such episodes occur all too frequently. Probably daily. Having a duplicate sample in the Seed Vault means that the loss of the "original" copy in a seed bank will not mean the extinction of the variety. If there is a larger scale catastrophe - national, regional, or heaven-forbid, global - then yes, the Seed Vault might also be useful. We'll have to see. But it will certainly be useful many times prior to this. There are no guarantees in this world. One can always imagine - if one is creative - how/why something might fail. But, that doesn't mean we should not be proactive. After all, most of us have car insurance. We are not planning to have an accident. And we certainly don't think that having insurance will prevent an accident. But, we have the insurance nevertheless. Think of the Seed Vault as providing a similar kind of insurance policy for global agriculture.
FYI: Access to seeds stored in the Seed Vault will be given to those who deposit the seeds. The facility will operate similarly to a safety deposit box in a bank. The purpose of the facility is to provide a "safety net," an insurance policy against accidental loss of diversity in traditional genebanks, of which there are hundreds. The diversity in these banks is, for the most, part available under the terms of an international treaty. But, in the case of Svalbard, if anyone wants these seeds, they will have to deal with the depositor and get seeds directly from the depositor, not from the Seed Vault. Thus, no one will have preferential access to the seeds in Svalbard.
I hate to be the one to spoil a good rumor, and just when it was just taking off....but, there are several factual errors in the report that started this thread. Let me just cite the one that has gained the most traction on this board: Monsanto is NOT involved in funding the Seed Vault, directly or indirectly. Not a penny. The Vault is being built by Norway and paid for by the government, 100%. The operating costs will be paid by the Global Crop Diversity Trust and Norway, 100%. (at a MUCH lower cost than reported in some media) How do I know all of this? I am the Executive Director of the Trust. We receive NO funding from Monsanto, neither does the Norwegian government! Monsanto has had no involvement in the planning, implementation or funding of the facility. None. I am not even sure they know about it. No one I know has ever talked to them about it, or gotten communication from them about it...and I have been involved from the beginning.
The Seed Vault has been endorsed by more than 165 countries at the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. There will be an international advisory council. The aims, the operating procedures, etc. are all quite public. The Seed Vault's purpose is to provide insurance against the loss of biodiversity held in seed banks around the world, such as the loss that took place last year when a typhoon severely damaged the national seed bank of the Philippines. (I am visiting that facility at this moment - the Trust helped the Philippines rescue what remained of their collection last year.)
I can only urge people to do their homework, and not be quite so quick to jump to conclusions, not be quite so quick to fall back on conspiracy theories, and not be quite so quick to condemn one of the few positive initiatives in this world to safeguard the diversity of an important natural resource for future generations. As hard as it might be to believe in these troubled times, some people really are looking ahead and trying to do positive things to safeguard humanity.
For more information, see: www.croptrust.org
Thanks for taking the time to consider the situation.
Slashdot Mirror
Monsanto DOESN'T have anything to do with it. They're not funding or participating in it. There's not any evidence to suggest that they even know about it.
You're probably right. Too bad the good guys - those actually doing something to help save biodiversity through the Seed Vault - become just so much "collateral damage." Unfortunately in this world of ours, it's become all too easy to believe dire conspiracy stories, and too difficult to check the facts or believe that something positive could actually be real.
As I have tried to indicate in other posts on this topic, Monsanto has no involvement whatsoever. No involvement in the design, planning, funding, or stocking of the seed vault. NONE. Rumors start and soon get out of control. But, if one wishes to check the facts, take a look at the Norwegian government website: http://www.regjeringen.no/en/dep/lmd/campain/svalbard-global-seed-vault.html?id=462220 or, look at: www.croptrust.org
While the media had dubbed this a "Doomsday Vault," the primary utility of the Vault is likely to be to guard against the more extinction that takes places in seed banks as a result of human mismanagement, equipment failures, budget cuts and natural disasters. Given the fact that 6.5 million samples are stored in over 1000 seed banks, such episodes occur all too frequently. Probably daily. Having a duplicate sample in the Seed Vault means that the loss of the "original" copy in a seed bank will not mean the extinction of the variety. If there is a larger scale catastrophe - national, regional, or heaven-forbid, global - then yes, the Seed Vault might also be useful. We'll have to see. But it will certainly be useful many times prior to this. There are no guarantees in this world. One can always imagine - if one is creative - how/why something might fail. But, that doesn't mean we should not be proactive. After all, most of us have car insurance. We are not planning to have an accident. And we certainly don't think that having insurance will prevent an accident. But, we have the insurance nevertheless. Think of the Seed Vault as providing a similar kind of insurance policy for global agriculture.
FYI: Access to seeds stored in the Seed Vault will be given to those who deposit the seeds. The facility will operate similarly to a safety deposit box in a bank. The purpose of the facility is to provide a "safety net," an insurance policy against accidental loss of diversity in traditional genebanks, of which there are hundreds. The diversity in these banks is, for the most, part available under the terms of an international treaty. But, in the case of Svalbard, if anyone wants these seeds, they will have to deal with the depositor and get seeds directly from the depositor, not from the Seed Vault. Thus, no one will have preferential access to the seeds in Svalbard.
I hate to be the one to spoil a good rumor, and just when it was just taking off....but, there are several factual errors in the report that started this thread. Let me just cite the one that has gained the most traction on this board: Monsanto is NOT involved in funding the Seed Vault, directly or indirectly. Not a penny. The Vault is being built by Norway and paid for by the government, 100%. The operating costs will be paid by the Global Crop Diversity Trust and Norway, 100%. (at a MUCH lower cost than reported in some media) How do I know all of this? I am the Executive Director of the Trust. We receive NO funding from Monsanto, neither does the Norwegian government! Monsanto has had no involvement in the planning, implementation or funding of the facility. None. I am not even sure they know about it. No one I know has ever talked to them about it, or gotten communication from them about it...and I have been involved from the beginning. The Seed Vault has been endorsed by more than 165 countries at the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. There will be an international advisory council. The aims, the operating procedures, etc. are all quite public. The Seed Vault's purpose is to provide insurance against the loss of biodiversity held in seed banks around the world, such as the loss that took place last year when a typhoon severely damaged the national seed bank of the Philippines. (I am visiting that facility at this moment - the Trust helped the Philippines rescue what remained of their collection last year.) I can only urge people to do their homework, and not be quite so quick to jump to conclusions, not be quite so quick to fall back on conspiracy theories, and not be quite so quick to condemn one of the few positive initiatives in this world to safeguard the diversity of an important natural resource for future generations. As hard as it might be to believe in these troubled times, some people really are looking ahead and trying to do positive things to safeguard humanity. For more information, see: www.croptrust.org Thanks for taking the time to consider the situation.