Wereldzadenbank will receive a new, watertight entrance

lonyearbyen - The World Seed Bank on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen, which has existed for exactly ten years on Monday, will receive a new entrance. It should better protect the approximately one million seeds that are now there.

At the end of 2016, water was discovered in the entrance. Due to the exceptionally high temperatures and rain at the end of that year, water had entered the entrance to the safe. The moisture did not get any further because it was frozen, but scientists started to worry afterwards.

It has now been decided to build a new watertight entrance. Equipment that can give off heat is housed in a separate building. The work starts next month and is expected to last until May next year.

The World Seed Bank was established to be able to plant seeds again in the event of a major disaster. The safe is located at a depth of 120 meters in a mountain near Lonyearbyen, the capital of Spitsbergen.