January 03, 2025
During World War II the 872-day Siege of Leningrad left the city devoid of food. The city (now St. Petersburg) was home to the Bureau of Applied Botany, which maintained a seed bank to safeguard the worldâs food supply. Botanists who worked there starved to death rather than consume the seeds intended for future famine relief.
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BRITANNICA.COM
The Arcticâs Seed-Filled Doomsday Fortress
Beyond the Arctic Circle lies the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, the worldâs largest secure seed storage. Opened by the Norwegian government in 2008, the facility is built into the side of a remote mountain on Spitsbergen, the largest of the Svalbard islands. Unlike other seed banks, which protect
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