The doomsday seed vault is situated on the island of Spitzbergen, Norway, located in the Svalbard island group within the Arctic Circle. It exists in an old copper mine, which is connected by a long steel tunnel from outside of the mine’s mountain. It is steel and concrete fortified with all the latest technological innovations for supplying power and maintaining seed security.
It is considered a safety deposit box back up for all other seed banks located throughout the world, of which there are many. Because of its remote but accessible location, entrance at 400 feet above sea level, and the permafrost protection for the vault if there is a power failure. On the surface, the project makes ecological sense.
Norway technically owns the vault, and endows those who place seeds into the vault with absolute ownership and access of the seeds. The Global Crop Diversity Trust based in Rome is the prime coordinating international agency for the doomsday vault,and they have strong Rockefeller connections.
An earlierLA Timesarticle mentioned that all seeds are accepted, except for genetically modified seeds. However, this stipulation wasn’t noticed on the vault FAQs web page. The doomsday vault donors listed include the Gates Foundation, Rockefeller, Monsanto,