Cannabis prepared to survive the apocalypse in a secret vault
Heh, seems like our favorite plant is more prepared than many of us =) But let’s be serious, did you know about the existence of the Doomsday Vault, which is housing thousands of cannabis seeds and other plant species?
The Svalbard Global Seed Vault (it’s official name) is located on the island of Svalbard, between the North Pole and Norway. The structure is buried deep in the bowels of an icy mountain, only the entrance door is brought to the surface which creates a rather mysterious appearance, reminiscent of Doom or Resident Evil video games and movies. And this is partly the reason why the vault has been dubbed the “doomsday” vault.
But essentially, it’s a huge safety deposit box, holding the world’s largest collection of agricultural biodiversity. The vault wasn’t designed solely to protect against apocalyptic events or global catastrophes, but also much smaller, localized destruction and threats facing gene banks all over the world.
The Doomsday Vault opened in 2008, but the idea dates way back to the 1980s. The vault freezes the seed samples to preserve their integrity. “Inside this building is 13,000 years of agricultural history,” says Brian Lainoff, lead partnerships coordinator of the Crop Trust, which manages the vault.
Interestingly, the vault received one of its largest seed deposits in 2020. It welcomed over 60,000 seed samples from 36 different groups and countries.
