• Menu
  • Menu
  • News
  • Subscribe now
    Digital subscription Print subscription Print+Digital (Bundle)
  • Logout
Digital subscription
Print subscription
Print+Digital (Bundle)
Trending
UAE holidays 2022 Golf in UAE Gratuity Calculator Mind Your Migraine
  • Latest News
  • UAE
    • Crime
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Government
      • Sheikh Khalifa passes away
    • Health
      • Why Worry
    • Transport
    • Science
    • Weather
    • Ask the Law
    • Reader Complaint
    • UAE's Hope Probe
  • Living In UAE
    • Visa+Immigration
    • Housing
    • Phone+Internet
    • Banking
    • Transport
    • Health
    • Education
    • Relocate
    • Ask Us
    • Safety+Security
  • UAE Success Stories
  • Business
    • Banking
    • Aviation
    • Property
    • Energy
    • Analysis
    • Tourism
    • Markets
    • Retail
    • Corporate News
  • Best Buys
    • Electronics
    • Home and Kitchen
    • Offers
    • Consumables
    • Lifestyle
  • Your Money
    • Saving and Investment
    • Budget Living
    • Taxation
    • Expert Columns
    • Community Tips
    • Cryptocurrency
  • Food
    • Cooking and Cuisines
    • Guide to Cooking
  • Games
    • Daily Crossword
    • Sudoku
    • Word Search
    • Spell It
    • Play
  • Play Games
  • Parenting
    • Pregnancy & Baby
    • Learning & Play
    • Child Health
    • For Mums & Dads
    • Ask Us
    • Games
  • Discounts
  • Magical Dubai
    • Dubai Life
    • Live the Luxury
    • Culture and History
    • Adventure
    • Staying Connected
  • World
    • Gulf
      • Bahrain
      • Kuwait
      • Oman
      • Qatar
      • Saudi
      • Yemen
      • Games
    • Mena
    • Europe
    • Africa
    • Americas
    • Asia
      • India
      • Pakistan
      • Philippines
    • Oceania
    • Offbeat
    • Coronavirus
    • Infographics
    • Special Reports
    • Games
    • Corrections
  • Special Reports
  • Photos
    • News
    • Entertainment
    • Readers' Photos
    • Lifestyle
    • Business
    • Sports
  • Opinion
    • Editorials
    • Op-Eds
    • Letters
    • Off the Cuff
    • From the Editors
  • Sport
    • UAE Sport
    • Horse Racing
      • Dubai World Cup
    • Cricket
      • IPL
        • Chennai
        • Delhi
        • Punjab
        • Kolkata
        • Mumbai
        • Rajasthan
        • Bangalore
        • Hyderabad
        • Gujarat
        • Lucknow
        • Live Scores
        • Point Table
        • Top Scorers
      • ICC
    • Motorsport
    • Football
    • Tennis
    • Rugby
    • Golf in UAE
      • UAE
      • World
      • Photos & Videos
      • Course Reviews
      • Eagle Eye
      • Learn to Play
      • Gear
  • Entertainment
    • Hollywood
    • Bollywood
    • Pakistani Cinema
    • South Indian
    • Arab Celebs
    • Music
    • TV
    • Books
    • Theatre
    • Arts+Culture
  • Expo 2020
    • News
    • Photos
    • Pavilions
    • Visit the Expo
    • Experience the UAE
    • Entertainment
    • Videos
  • Going Out
  • Auto
    • News
    • Test Drives
    • Car Culture
    • Auto Care
  • Lifestyle
    • Health+Fitness
    • Community
    • Fashion
  • GN Reach
  • Jobs
  • Tech
    • Electronics
    • Gaming
    • Media
  • Videos
    • How-To
    • Best Of Bollywood
    • News
    • Entertainment
    • Business
    • Sport
    • Community
    • Technology
  • Travel
  • GN Focus
    • Special Features
  • Mind Your Migraine
  • 50 MENA Leaders
  • The Kurator
    • Share
    • Dare
    • Flair
  • Bayat Chapters
  • Gold-Forex
  • Gratuity Calculator
  • Notifications
  • Gold/Forex
  • Prayer Times
  • Cinema Listing
  • Newsletters
  • About Gulf News
  • Contact us
  • Work with us
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Gulf News store
  • Advertise with us
  • Reach by GN
  • GN Focus
  • Gulf News epaper
  • Sitemap
  • Have your say
  • © Al Nisr Publishing LLC 2022. All rights reserved.
    Last resort: the seeds kept safe in a South Korean mountain

    Photos

    Login / Sign Up
    Logout
    Monday, June 27, 2022
    Gold / Forex

    Photos News

    • News
    • Entertainment
    • Readers' Photos
    • Lifestyle
    • Business
    • Sports
    All Sections

    Last resort: the seeds kept safe in a South Korean mountain

    The seeds are stored for safekeeping against climate change, natural disaster and war


    Published:  June 01, 2021 15:32 AFP

    1 of 16
    Copy-of-224559-01-02
    Bonghwa: Hidden in a South Korean mountain tunnel designed to withstand a nuclear blast, the seeds of nearly 5,000 wild plant species are stored for safekeeping against climate change, natural disaster and war. Image Credit: AFP
    2 of 16
    Copy-of-224557-01-02
    The exterior of the Seed Vault Centre at the Baekdudaegan National Arboretum. | lant extinction is progressing at an alarming rate, researchers warn, driven by increasing human population, pollution and deforestation, even before many species are catalogued. Image Credit: AFP
    3 of 16
    Copy-of-224567-01-02
    The Baekdudaegan National Arboretum Seed Vault Centre preserves nearly 100,000 seeds from 4,751 different wild plant species to ensure they are not lost to "apocalyptic events", says its head Lee Sang-yong. Image Credit: AFP
    4 of 16
    Copy-of-224560-01-02
    It is one of only two such facilities in the world, he told AFP: unlike more commonplace seed banks, where samples are stored and regularly withdrawn for various purposes, deposits in seed vaults are meant to be permanent, with use intended only as a last resort to prevent extinction. Image Credit: AFP
    5 of 16
    Copy-of-224552-01-02
    A researcher displaying seed samples. | The vault is designated as a security installation by South Korea's National Intelligence Service, surrounded by wire fences and dozens of cameras, with restrictions on filming in place and police patrolling on a regular basis. Image Credit: AFP
    6 of 16
    Copy-of-224553-01-02
    Inside, a lift leads about eight floors down to a cavernous concrete tunnel, where two heavy steel doors guard the storage room and its hand-cranked shelving racks, kept at minus 20 degrees Celsius to preserve the seeds and 40 percent humidity to keep them viable. Image Credit: AFP
    7 of 16
    Copy-of-224563-01-02
    A researcher entering into a long-term storage room. | The vault's samples are largely of flora from the Korean peninsula, but with a capacity of two million seeds, the South makes its space available to other countries, with Kazakhstan and Tajikistan among those to have taken up the offer. Image Credit: AFP
    8 of 16
    Copy-of-224554-01-02
    Depositors retain ownership of their samples and control over withdrawals. But Lee pointed out: "The seed vault stores seeds to prevent their extinction, so the best scenario would be that the seeds never have to be taken out." Image Credit: AFP
    9 of 16
    Copy-of-224555-01-02
    Despite its doomsday-defying role, it was built by a country that in 1950 was invaded by the neighbouring North, and Pyongyang has since developed a nuclear and missile arsenal. The facility was built in the "safest spot" in South Korea, Lee said, designed to withstand a 6.9-magnitude earthquake and even an atomic strike. "It's geographically very safe," Lee said. "And we paved a 46 metre-deep underground tunnel to ensure it's safe from war and nuclear threats. Image Credit: AFP
    10 of 16
    Copy-of-224556-01-02
    A researcher preparing seed samples at the wild plant seeds research division. | The world's biggest and best-known seed vault is buried deep inside a former coal mine on Svalbard, a remote Arctic Norwegian archipelago around 1,300 kilometres (about 800 miles) from the North Pole. Image Credit: AFP
    11 of 16
    Copy-of-224564-01-02
    Dubbed the "Noah's Ark" of food crops, the Global Seed Vault focuses on agricultural and related plants, storing more than one million seed samples from nearly every country on the planet. Image Credit: AFP
    12 of 16
    Copy-of-224561-01-02
    A researcher checking seed stored in a long-term storage room. | But researchers say preserving the seeds of wild plants - the original source of the crops we eat today - should not be overlooked.cMany crop relatives in the wild that could provide genetic diversity to help long-term food security "lack effective protection", according to a recent UN report. Image Credit: AFP
    13 of 16
    Copy-of-224568-01-02
    A researcher preparing seed samples. | It warned that farming was likely to be less resilient against climate change, pests and pathogens as a result, adding: "The biosphere, upon which humanity as a whole depends... is declining faster than at any time in human history." Image Credit: AFP
    14 of 16
    Copy-of-224569-01-02
    Wild plants hold promise as future medicines, fuels and food, said the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew in a report last year, but around two-fifths of them are threatened with extinction, largely due to habitat destruction and climate change.cIt was a "race against time" to identify them before they disappeared, it added. Image Credit: AFP
    15 of 16
    Copy-of-224558-01-02
    Research on wild plant seeds is "lacking tremendously", said Na Chae-sun, a senior researcher at the Baekdudaegan National Arboretum. She and her team collect samples and carry out a meticulous and extensive process including X-ray tests and trial plantations before seeds are catalogued and stored in the seed vault. Image Credit: AFP
    16 of 16
    Copy-of-224551-01-02
    A researcher checking trial plantations. | "One might ask why is that wild flower on the kerbside important?" she said. "Our job is to identify these one by one and letting people know how important they are," she went on. "The crops that we eat today may have come from that nameless flower on the kerbside." Image Credit: AFP

    Trending

    • Expo City Dubai will redefine ‘being self-contained’

      Expo City Dubai will redefine ‘being self-contained’


    • Flying out? Here are fares for popular holiday spots

      Flying out? Here are fares for popular holiday spots


    • Look: A glimpse of Wahat Al Karama in Abu Dhabi

      Look: A glimpse of Wahat Al Karama in Abu Dhabi

    Latest In

    • 6 comedies to be staged at Dubai Festival for Youth

      20 minutes ago

    • Kuwait mulls optional 4th dose of COVID-19 vaccine

      24 minutes ago

    • Saudi Arabia calls on people to sight Dhu Al Hijja moon

      28 minutes ago

    • Episode 6 preview: Busting common migraine myths

      30 minutes ago

    • Ray-Ban owner Leonardo Del Vecchio dies at 87

      34 minutes ago

    Go back to top
    Network links:
    • Friday
    • Watch Time
    • getthat
    • Jobs
    • About Gulf News
    • Contact us
    • Work with us
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Gulf News store
    • Advertise with us
    • Reach by GN
    • GN Focus
    • Gulf News epaper
    • Sitemap
    • Have your say
    Find us on Social
    © Al Nisr Publishing LLC 2022. All rights reserved.
    This website stores cookies on your computer. These cookies are used to improve your experience and provide more personalized service to you. Both on your website and other media. To find out more about the cookies and data we use, please check out our Privacy Policy.
    Share on Facebook
    Share on Twitter
    Share on Whatsapp
    Share on Mail
    Share on LinkedIn
    Close
    Gulf News

    Get Breaking News Alerts From Gulf News

    We’ll send you latest news updates through the day. You can manage them any time by clicking on the notification icon.

    Subscribe No Thanks
    Continue reading Gulf News
    Dear Reader, please register to read gulfnews.com

    Dear Reader,

    This section is about Living in UAE and essential information you cannot live without.

    Register to read and get full access to gulfnews.com

    Create your account
    or login if you already have one
    First name is required.
    Last name is required.
    Please enter a valid email address.
    Password should have minimum 7 characters with at least one letter and number
    Passwords do not match

    By clicking below to sign up, you're agreeing to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy

    Login your account
    New to Gulf News? Sign up now
    Please enter your email address.
    Please enter your password.

    Forgot password

    or