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The remarkable story of the Global Seed Vault – and the valiant effort to save the past and the future of agriculture: Now updated with a new chapter by the author and photos from recent improvements in the facilities.
Closer to the North Pole than to the Arctic Circle, on an island in a remote Norwegian archipelago, lies a vast global seed bank buried within a frozen mountain. At the end of a 130-meter-long tunnel chiselled out of solid stone is a room filled with humanity's precious treasure, the largest and most diverse seed collection ever assembled: more than a half billion seeds containing the world's most prized crops, a safeguard against catastrophic starvation.
The Global Seed Vault, a visionary model of international collaboration, is the brainchild of Cary Fowler, renowned scientist, conservationist, and biodiversity advocate. In Seeds on Ice, Fowler tells for the first time the comprehensive inside story of how the "doomsday seed vault" came to be, while the breathtaking photographs offer a stunning guided tour not only of the private vault, but of the windswept beauty and majesty of Svalbard and the enchanting community of people in Longyearbyen.
With growing evidence that unchecked climate change will seriously undermine food production and threaten the diversity of crops around the world, Seeds on Ice offers a personal and passionate reminder that we shouldn't take our reliance on the world of plants for granted – and that, in a very real sense, the future of the human race rides on this frozen and indispensable biodiversity.
Morgan Carrington "Cary" Fowler Jr. is an American agriculturalist and the former executive director of the Crop Trust, currently serving as a senior advisor to the trust. On May 5 2022, Dr. Fowler joined the U.S. Department of State as U.S. Special Envoy for Global Food Security.
Peter Crane's work focuses on the diversity of plant life: its origin and fossil history, current status, and conservation and use. He served as the Carl W. Knobloch Jr., Dean of the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies (now the Yale School of the Environment) from 2009 until 2016. From 1992 to 1999 he was director of the Field Museum in Chicago with overall responsibility for the museum's scientific programs. During this time he established the Office of Environmental and Conservation Programs and the Center for Cultural Understanding and Change, which today make up the Division of Environment, Culture, and Conservation (ECCo). From 1999 to 2006 he was director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, one of the largest and most influential botanical gardens in the world. His tenure at Kew saw the strengthening and expansion of the gardens' scientific, conservation, and public programs. Dean Crane was elected to the Royal Society (the U.K. Academy of sciences) in 1998. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a foreign associate of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, and a member of the German Academy Leopoldina. He was knighted in the U.K. for services to horticulture and conservation in 2004. Dean Crane currently serves on the Board of the Global Crop Diversity Trust, the Missouri Botanical Garden, the Chicago Botanic Garden, the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center at the University of Texas, and the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation.
Photographer Jim Richardson is a photographer for National Geographic Magazine and a contributing editor for its sister publication, Traveler Magazine. Richardson has photographed more than fifty stories for National Geographic.
"Like the crystalline, fiber-optic sculpture at its portal, the vault is a beacon of optimism and comity in a world that may seem cold and dark. It is a gift to the entire human family for generations to come. Santa, an Arctic neighbor, no doubt would approve."
– Adrian Higgins, Washington Post
"[Seeds on Ice] reads like a cross between a coffee-table title and a TED talk [...] Because the Global Seed Vault isn't open to the public, Fowler's book is the only view of it most of us will ever get which is why the coffee-table book format actually works. So as Fowler catalogs the history of agriculture, the long road of crop diversification and, more recently, of how many varieties have already been lost, we get stunning photography to keep us turning the pages [...] If the pictures of polar bears and collapsing ice shelves aren't message enough of the timeliness of both the project and the book, Fowler also notes that the Global Seed Vault has already proved its worth. The first seed withdrawal came in 2015, when deposits that had been made from a gene bank in Syria were sent back to help re-establish the banks in the region."
– The Los Angeles Times
"If you're already familiar with the Global Seed Vault and understand the crucial role it might play in the future of humanity, you can think of Cary Fowler's new book as a beautiful coffee-table ornament with the bonus of lots of informative, readable text. If you've never heard of the vault, Seeds on Ice: Svalbard and the Global Seed Vault can be your introduction to an extraordinary, farsighted venture [...] Besides the science involved in selecting and preserving seeds, [Fowler] gives a fascinating account of the creation of the vault itself [...] The book is illustrated with hundreds of photographs of the vault and the stunning Arctic environment in which it's located."
– Washington Post
"Seeds on Ice is a marvel of great story with beautiful pictures illustrating the wilderness of the Norwegian mountain hosting the frozen seeds. But, above all, Seeds on Ice is a monument to [Cary Fowler's] passionate love for traditional farming and seeds [...] [He is] telling a passionate story that seeds are life, warning us to wake up and defend unmodified seeds and traditional farming, which are the bedrock of life and civilization."
– Huffington Post
"Fowler's seed collection may have a reputation as a 'doomsday vault,' designed to save us from apocalyptic natural disaster and nuclear war, but his book is far from a harbinger of doom and gloom. Rather, it serves as a thoughtful treatise on our debt to the world or plants, and our responsibility for their stewardship. It also offers a straightforward recounting of Fowler's vision-turned-reality and, with plenty of stunning photography depicting frigid Svalbard and its surrounding polar bears and glacial shelves, makes for a beautiful addition to any coffee table."
– Sierra Magazine
"Fowler, a key player in the banklike facility's creation, uses stunning images of the site and its surrounding landscape as a springboard into bigger-picture issues [...] [A] fascinating look at a place few of us would otherwise visit."
– Discover
"[Seeds on Ice] opens the door not only to the Vault, but to a process that shows Norwegian leadership and international cooperation at its best. Beautifully accompanied by photographers Mari Tefre and Jim Richardson's northern images, this book is a tribute to the Seed Vault, its unique history, and the nature and people of Svalbard. Read this book, and you will know why this is the most important bank vault of all."
– High North News
"The Global Seed Vault is an extraordinary project, and Seeds on Ice is an extraordinary book – in equal measure fascinating, beautiful, and haunting."
– Elizabeth Kolbert, author of The Sixth Extinction
"The story of Svalbard's seed vault reads as an amazingly optimistic science fiction story but these remarkable photos remind us, happily, that's it true. For those of us struggling to keep the planet from cracking, it's a great comfort to know all about this project."
– Bill McKibben, author of Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet
"I'd like to think that the future of cuisine is decided at the dinner table, but really, it begins with what you see here, and the recipes that are written for our food long before they reach the kitchen. Seeds on Ice introduces readers to our most precious culinary resource the Svalbard Global Seed Vault and our most urgent challenge as eaters: protecting crop diversity for the future of food."
– Dan Barber, author of The Third Plate
"This book is so stunning and Cary Fowler's work at the Svalbard Global Seed Vault is so important it's a book that everyone who loves our planet should own."
– Bette Midler
"Here is an adventure story and an amazing success story of one man's personal, professional, and passionate crusade for the conservation of genetic diversity in the world's agricultural crops. Visionary thinking, conservation action, and international cooperation have resulted in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, promising a better future for biodiversity in agriculture. The same combination of vision, action, and cooperation will be required to provide a better future for biodiversity among wild plants and animals."
– Gregory Long, President of the New York Botanical Garden
