African Seed Bank Deposits Arrive In Norway
by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 02. 4.08
TreeHugger April updated us on construction of an international seed bank (shown here in front view) in her post called Chilling Down Svalbard's Seed Saver. This followed Tim's post on the early planning stages called Norway Seed Bank: A Hedge Against Food Loss. The shelves are up, and the first load of seeds, from Africa, are enroute for long term storage in Norway.
Twenty-one boxes filled with 7,000 unique seed samples from more than 36 African nations were shipped to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, a facility being built on a remote island in the Arctic Circle as a repository of last resort for humanity’s agricultural heritage...
The shipment, which was sent by the Ibadan, Nigeria-based International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), consists of thousands of duplicates of unique varieties of domesticated and wild cowpea, maize, soybean, and Bambara groundnut. The seeds from the IITA genebank in Ibadan, Nigeria, were packed in 21 boxes weighing a total of 330 kg. The processing by IITA staff took several months, and the boxes were packaged over a three-day period, with 10 staff checking the accession list, reporting errors, and adjusting the inventory, as needed.
Here's a construction-phase, back view of the seed vault, looking from above entrance and toward the sea.
See also: Svalbard's Hot (Winter) Nights.
Via::Eureka Alerts, "African seed collection first to arrive in Norway on route to Arctic seed vault" Image credit::Global Crop Diversity Trust, Arctic Seed Vault Image Gallery
Ever wonder why Monsanto is funding this storage site it has to do with the fact that they are unleashing GMO crops in Africa very soon. They know that the GMO crops threaten the wild and hybrid crops so in case a cross happens that damages the DNA of the wild flora they will have a total monopoly on the DNA of the global food supply.
=== author's response follows ==
Do you happen to have a link that details a potential Monsanto funding role for the seed bank?
I found a report on the funding sources here:
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=7529
Yes, it includes Monsanto. No rest for the wicked...
Does anyone know who the architect for the Doomsday Vault was? Norwegian? Who? What name?
Monsanto is NOT a funder of the Seed Vault. If you check the "reference" given in one of the posts, you will find that this assertion is unsubstantiated. Not one dollar was received from Monsanto to construct or operate the Seed Vault. Not one email was received either. A quick glance at the website where the article appears reveals the author's fondness for conspiracy theories. And fantasy, I might add.
Note that the Global Crop Diversity Trust is affiliated with the UN and its books are audited and the reports publicly available. You can see the list of funders at www.croptrust.org. But you won't find Monsanto there. The Norwegian government built the facility using its own funds. With a construction cost of less than $10 million, Norway hardly needed the help of Monsanto, whose seeds it bans from planting in Norway. In short, due diligence should be exercised before falling for nonsense.
I am personally involved with the Seed Vault and in a good position to know the situation.
=== author's response follows ===
Thank you for this comment.
Regarding Cary Fowler's comment on funding for the artic seed vault. There may or may not be a Monsanto connection, but there certainly are contributions made by many other corporations that caused my eyebrows to rise.
Norway did appear to build the vault on its own for about $10 million. However, contributions to the Global Crop Diversity Trust (GCDT) will, in part, be used to fund ongoing operational costs for the vault and assist developing countries with preparing, packaging and transporting their representative seeds to the Arctic.
While I have not determined whether Mosanto is a contributor to the GCDT the other corporations and foundations always lumped with Monsanto as contributors are; Syngenta AG, The Gates Foundation, Dupont/Pioneer Hi-bred, the Syngenta Foundation and The Rockefeller Foundation. These corporations and foundations ARE contributors to GCDT and therefore, indirectly, to the seed vault.
Regarding the allegation of Monsanto funding the seed vault; there is a corporation contributing to GCDT, Grains Research & Development Corporation. Connected with the Australian government, this corporation has many articles from Monsanto representatives appearing in its web pages. I cannot find a more direct link, such as Monsanto funding this corporation, but my hunch is that they are. I have limited time and resources to devote to these things so I am unable to take the investigation any further.
The point raised by readers is that it seems suspicious that corporations involved in the direct contamination of the plants and animals of our precious planet with genetically engineered organisms are also involved in the operational maintenance of one of the greatest protections of the very diversity they are conciously tampering with and destroying.
What the other writers are saying, while possibly mistaken regarding Monsanto, is true regarding the other contributors and is far from nonsense.
I admonish the writer with the same words he/she used against others' concerns; "due diligence should be exercised" before dismissing something as nonsense.
Michael Polidori
Regarding Cary Fowler's comment on funding for the artic seed vault. There may or may not be a Monsanto connection, but there certainly are contributions made by many other corporations that caused my eyebrows to rise.
Norway did appear to build the vault on its own for about $10 million. However, contributions to the Global Crop Diversity Trust (GCDT) will, in part, be used to fund ongoing operational costs for the vault and assist developing countries with preparing, packaging and transporting their representative seeds to the Arctic.
While I have not determined whether Mosanto is a contributor to the GCDT the other corporations and foundations always lumped with Monsanto as contributors are; Syngenta AG, The Gates Foundation, Dupont/Pioneer Hi-bred, the Syngenta Foundation and The Rockefeller Foundation. These corporations and foundations ARE contributors to GCDT and therefore, indirectly, to the seed vault.
Regarding the allegation of Monsanto funding the seed vault; there is a corporation contributing to GCDT, Grains Research & Development Corporation. Connected with the Australian government, this corporation has many articles from Monsanto representatives appearing in its web pages. I cannot find a more direct link, such as Monsanto funding this corporation, but my hunch is that they are. I have limited time and resources to devote to these things so I am unable to take the investigation any further.
The point raised by readers is that it seems suspicious that corporations involved in the direct contamination of the plants and animals of our precious planet with genetically engineered organisms are also involved in the operational maintenance of one of the greatest protections of the very diversity they are conciously tampering with and destroying.
What the other writers are saying, while possibly mistaken regarding Monsanto, is true regarding the other contributors and is far from nonsense.
I admonish the writer with the same words he/she used against others' concerns; "due diligence should be exercised" before dismissing something as nonsense.
Michael Polidori