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Seeds on Ice: Svalbard and the Global Seed Vault: Svalbard and the Global Seed Vault
The remarkable story of the Global Seed Vault—and the valiant effort to save the past and the future of agriculture
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 chiseled 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.
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 chiseled 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.
161 pages, Hardcover
First published September 6, 2016
7 people are currently reading
698 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews
October 10, 2016
This is such a beautiful book. The seed vault in Svarlbard is impressive. It is designed to safeguard biodiversity in our planet's agriculture, and it has already been put to use to replace seeds lost from the war in Syria. The book itself is chock full of photos of the Arctic, and stories of how the vault came to be. It is an obscure but important topic, and the book is luscious.
December 26, 2023
A Fascinating and accessible way to learn about the Global Seed Vault. The photos are stunning.
June 5, 2017
In the modern industrialized world we rarely give much thought about the future availability of food. Domestic and international world disasters remind us about famines and starvation. Wars, terrorism and natural disasters cause displacement of people and destroy their access to farmland. In addition there are global concerns about GMOs. A doomsday vision was the incentive for the creation of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault aka The Doomsday Vault, which is located on one of the islands in the Norwegian archipelago. Millions of seeds are stored in cold vaults deeply buried in rock, and safeguard a growing collection. Not only is it based on a possible doomsday scenario, but the project recognizes the need to maintain biodiversity of original plant materials. Fowler specifies that plant diversity is important because some varieties have unique properties which naturally ward off indigenous insects and vermin; food bearing plants do well in certain climates and soils; and not all grains which produce flour will be good for the same types of bread. Therefore indigenous grains are important to regions within countries. The vault is there for a global disaster, but also for more current needs. In 2015, there was the first seed withdrawal, seeds originally deposited from a seed bank in Syria, were sent back to the region.
It is a beautiful book about a serious subject. Large in format with full-page color photographs of field crops, plants in test tubes, and the interior of the mammoth underground vault, where none of us will ever go. Photographs of the surrounding environment of the archipelago include glaciers, wildlife, and endless horizons of sky and sea, and are reminders of the earth's strength and vulnerability.
The author, Cary Fowler is the former executive director of The Crop Trust, an independent international organization that provides support for the ongoing operations of the vault. Fowler discussed efforts to safeguard the sources of the world’s food supply on CBS's “Sunday Morning,” and took viewers inside the extraordinary seed vault.
Reviewed by Sheryn Morris, Librarian, Central Library
It is a beautiful book about a serious subject. Large in format with full-page color photographs of field crops, plants in test tubes, and the interior of the mammoth underground vault, where none of us will ever go. Photographs of the surrounding environment of the archipelago include glaciers, wildlife, and endless horizons of sky and sea, and are reminders of the earth's strength and vulnerability.
The author, Cary Fowler is the former executive director of The Crop Trust, an independent international organization that provides support for the ongoing operations of the vault. Fowler discussed efforts to safeguard the sources of the world’s food supply on CBS's “Sunday Morning,” and took viewers inside the extraordinary seed vault.
Reviewed by Sheryn Morris, Librarian, Central Library
March 24, 2020
Fascinating! Seeds on Ice provides a very accessible overview on the who, what, why, and where of the Global Seed Vault. It is an interesting topic that is expertly and engagingly explored by author Cary Fowler (the “father” of the Global Seed Vault). The photos are wonderful.
I enjoyed learning about life and climate in Svalbard, the reasons why it was chosen as an ideal location, the architecture of the vault, and world-wide cooperation that has made it what it is. Fowler debunks conspiracy theories and clearly explains why preserving the diversity contained in the world’s agricultural seeds is good insurance for the future.
I enjoyed learning about life and climate in Svalbard, the reasons why it was chosen as an ideal location, the architecture of the vault, and world-wide cooperation that has made it what it is. Fowler debunks conspiracy theories and clearly explains why preserving the diversity contained in the world’s agricultural seeds is good insurance for the future.
November 21, 2017
A book I'd have enjoyed recommending to library patrons. Award it an hour, enjoy the great and surprisingly diverse array of photos, appreciate the concept of gathering and storing millions of seeds in a vast vault carved in a mountain in the extreme far north. The text flows clear information. Give credit to the government of Norway.
December 24, 2020
What an amazing book on an amazing project! The Svalbard Global Seed Vault was designed to protect crops diversity. The book is in three big parts : Svalbard, the necessity to preserve crop diversity and the Global Seed Vault. It was very interesting to learn more about the inception of this project, as told by one of its founders.
April 6, 2025
The global seed vault fascinates me. This book is fantastic for anyone like myself who is interested in how the vault works and how it came to be. The book includes plenty of information, written in a way that's not fact after fact, and it also has so many amazing photographs. Highly recommend.
June 12, 2017
Fascinating! Great photos too!
June 11, 2017
This is a wonderful book filled with pictures and details about a facility I previously knew nothing about. I am fascinated by places and jobs that I have never heard of and could never imagine existing. Svalbard sounds like a very inhospitable place to live, yet perfect for the almost self-sustaining Global Seed Vault. An informative read, and I now I almost want to visit this ultimate cold location.
December 7, 2016
I'm giving this book as a Christmas present, but just had to read it myself before wrapping it. A beautiful and fascinating book on a subject--crop diversity--I'm passionate about. He's going to love it.
January 24, 2017
Great photos and interesting background on gathering/storing seeds.
December 9, 2021
What a beautiful book! I am fascinated by Svalbard, as it is a place so different from my home. I watch a lovey girl on YouTube who put me on to this book.
The book is beautiful, definitely a book you'd want to have on display. That being said, it is more of a picture book than a reading book.
Regardless, it's written by Cary Fowler who was the driving force behind the Svalbard Seed Bank, and it offers wonderful insight into more of his ideas and exactly how he made it happen, as well as little stories of all the things that happened along the way. You will find that Svalbard residents have to carry firearms with them at all times to protect from Polar Bears, and you'll read all about the midnight sun and the polar night as well as all the different varieties of wheat and sorghum...
The photography really is the showstopper in this book, however. There are pages and pages of exceptional quality, beautifully captured photos of things you would only see in this part of the world. It's my favourite book to pick up and flip through if I just want to relax and look at beautiful pictures and remind myself what happens in places other than where I live!
The book is beautiful, definitely a book you'd want to have on display. That being said, it is more of a picture book than a reading book.
Regardless, it's written by Cary Fowler who was the driving force behind the Svalbard Seed Bank, and it offers wonderful insight into more of his ideas and exactly how he made it happen, as well as little stories of all the things that happened along the way. You will find that Svalbard residents have to carry firearms with them at all times to protect from Polar Bears, and you'll read all about the midnight sun and the polar night as well as all the different varieties of wheat and sorghum...
The photography really is the showstopper in this book, however. There are pages and pages of exceptional quality, beautifully captured photos of things you would only see in this part of the world. It's my favourite book to pick up and flip through if I just want to relax and look at beautiful pictures and remind myself what happens in places other than where I live!
August 21, 2018
The three star rating is not the book’s fault. It just wasn’t what I was hoping for. I had heard the tail end of a radio interview with the author, and was expecting something else. Instead, it is an extraordinarily beautiful coffee table book with amazing photographs and a clarion call for genetic diversity among seeds and crops.
What I was looking for warranted a short paragraph about half-way through. This book is about a modern seed vault. The story I wanted to read was about an earlier seed vault, started in the USSR, at the Institute of St. Petersburg. Here’s the amazing part: when the Nazi siege occurred, the staff inside chose to die of starvation rather than eat the seeds in the vault. The world might need them.
THAT is the story I wanted to read. So, three stars it is.
Oh, and we really ought to ban monoculture crops. They are bad in more ways than we probably are even aware.
What I was looking for warranted a short paragraph about half-way through. This book is about a modern seed vault. The story I wanted to read was about an earlier seed vault, started in the USSR, at the Institute of St. Petersburg. Here’s the amazing part: when the Nazi siege occurred, the staff inside chose to die of starvation rather than eat the seeds in the vault. The world might need them.
THAT is the story I wanted to read. So, three stars it is.
Oh, and we really ought to ban monoculture crops. They are bad in more ways than we probably are even aware.
June 18, 2018
Of all the book club books this month, I read this one first. Cold, dark, and dry are the secrets to preserving seed and where better than in a tunnel, in the permafrost, in an arctic mountain. The Svalbard Seed Vault is not a seed bank. It is intended as a long term backup for seed banks that might be destroyed. Thank God it was there when the Syrian seed bank was destroyed during the recent war.
I enjoyed the photographs in the book although printing cannot capture the magic glowing opalescence that I saw in the snow and glaciers during my trip to Iceland.
To my friend Lynn. Go ahead. Try to pronounce Svalbard.
I enjoyed the photographs in the book although printing cannot capture the magic glowing opalescence that I saw in the snow and glaciers during my trip to Iceland.
To my friend Lynn. Go ahead. Try to pronounce Svalbard.
June 19, 2018
Not 100% fascinating but parts were very interesting indeed. (There are 15,000 different kinds of peanuts? Who knew?) Also the photos are quite beautiful.
A couple of quotes that struck me:
"Indeed, the battle that plant breeders and farmers wage with pests and diseases through the development of resistant varieties can never be won permanently. There is no single 'best' variety of any crop, at least not for long. There can't be." (p. 94)
"Where else can one find a positive, cooperative, future-oriented initiative involving so many countries?" (p. 132)
Recommended to anyone interested in agriculture, food security, and the future of the planet Earth.
A couple of quotes that struck me:
"Indeed, the battle that plant breeders and farmers wage with pests and diseases through the development of resistant varieties can never be won permanently. There is no single 'best' variety of any crop, at least not for long. There can't be." (p. 94)
"Where else can one find a positive, cooperative, future-oriented initiative involving so many countries?" (p. 132)
Recommended to anyone interested in agriculture, food security, and the future of the planet Earth.
January 31, 2019
Svalbard sounds like a magical place and despite being rather inhospitable, I'd actually love to visit one day (for one day, and then go home where it's warm). The photography in the book is awe-inspiring. Even if I don't completely understand the finer points of the vault's contents (I guess I know what I *won't* be doing post-doomsday, I think maybe agriculture isn't going to be my skill), I was still so excited to learn about the hows and whys of the vault's creation and continued existence. It sounds like something out of a science fiction book or a Bond movie - but I don't want to give super villains any ideas! Stay away from our seeds Dr. Evil!
September 2, 2021
I have never heard of the Svalbard seed vault before I read Seeds on Ice. For that matter I had never given gene banks much thought. And I had never thought about where important agricultural seeds were stored for breeding or research.
I enjoyed learning about Svalbard Norway and Svalbard global seed vault. One of the things that surprised me is that some types of seeds maybe it was sorghum could be stored at Svalbard for over 2 thousand years and be viable. Wow! Amazing!
I also liked the pictures in seeds on ice. The Aurora Borealis was beautiful.
I enjoyed learning about Svalbard Norway and Svalbard global seed vault. One of the things that surprised me is that some types of seeds maybe it was sorghum could be stored at Svalbard for over 2 thousand years and be viable. Wow! Amazing!
I also liked the pictures in seeds on ice. The Aurora Borealis was beautiful.
October 8, 2022
This is such an interesting book!
While it's a coffee-table sized book with some pictures, there's a lot more content to this book than I expected. This book shares the history of the Svalbard global seed vault as well as information about the Norwegian town it's near. The book talks about how the seed vault functions, where the seeds come from, and how it compares to seed storage around the world. There's lots of interesting information on how many varieties of seeds there are and how they get preserved.
This is a unique peak into biodiversity and conservation!
While it's a coffee-table sized book with some pictures, there's a lot more content to this book than I expected. This book shares the history of the Svalbard global seed vault as well as information about the Norwegian town it's near. The book talks about how the seed vault functions, where the seeds come from, and how it compares to seed storage around the world. There's lots of interesting information on how many varieties of seeds there are and how they get preserved.
This is a unique peak into biodiversity and conservation!
January 10, 2022
I knew generally what the Seed Vault was, but learned so much here about declining global crop diversity and the purpose of the Vault with respect to worldwide gene banks. Food availability will be so critical to the survival of humans, but most of us don't give it a thought. Fortunately, a few, including the Norwegian government, are willing to invest in securing global crop diversity. Fascinating.
July 17, 2023
The local park and ride facility cost my state government $33 million AUD. It gets used by about 200 people on a weekday.
This thing cost about $12 million AUD to build and preserves our most important seeds for about $250k / year.
The fact that a facility like our park and ride got installed for that much money with such ease despite no one really asking for it, and that building this saviour of humanity took years of international diplomacy and funding arrangement negotiation baffles me.
This thing cost about $12 million AUD to build and preserves our most important seeds for about $250k / year.
The fact that a facility like our park and ride got installed for that much money with such ease despite no one really asking for it, and that building this saviour of humanity took years of international diplomacy and funding arrangement negotiation baffles me.
December 11, 2017
Fascinating read. Listened to great NPR piece by the author months ago and finally read the book. Crop diversity doesn't sound like the most engaging concept, but it's ramifications run deep. Author told a great story. The photographs were truly breathtaking.
January 1, 2023
Absolutely stunning images of both people and places. The section on the first seed vault withdrawal by Syria was also well-written, and affirmed the purpose of the global seed vault and the necessity of its continuation.
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February 12, 2024It's unusual to read about a project that believes in itself so strongly without any smell of propaganda or charlatanism. Just an absurd amount of seeds in boxes. Lovely photographs. It's clear everything about the project was done with a sense of place, so my thanks to the people of Svalbard.
August 20, 2025
It’s encouraging reading about a rare instance in which the international community does something for the good of all humanity. Fowler’s writing is engaging and the pictures give fascinating glimpses into the seed vault.
June 13, 2017
Fascinating. I learned a lot. Plus the photos are outstanding.
October 2, 2017
I had some knowledge of this vault before seeing this book. I only skimmed through the read but the photography is BEAUTIFULLLLLLL!
January 30, 2018
A. nonfiction, Global Seed Vault
June 6, 2018
This big coffee table book comprehensively informs the reader about the Global Seed Vault, where it is, how it came to be and what it is for. Definitely a labor of love by the author.
January 11, 2019
I loved this book and the work done by Cary Fowler. The pictures are wonderful and the documentation of how seeds around the world are being saved is remarkable.
December 26, 2019
Well written with incredible photography on subject of immense importance to all human beings alive now and future generations to come.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews