ETHICAL IMPLICATIONS OF THE SVALBARD GLOBAL SEED VAULT: A NEW CATEGORY OF SEED BANK

Seeds are biological units that constitute the basis of life on Earth, as such, they occupy a central place in discussions regarding food systems and food sovereignty. In the recent past, natural disasters and horrific war episodes have prompted the interest in safeguarding seeds in places wherein they can be kept from adverse environmental conditions. There are numerous and different kinds of seed banks all over the world, the largest one is the widely recognized Svalbard Global Seed Vault. It is well regarded by the public opinion and the scientific community, in general. Though some food sovereignty advocates and environmental activists hold critic views about its existence. The present work aimed at better understanding the implications of this seed bank. The research questions were: a. What parties are involved in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault establishment and operation, are there any conflicts of interest on the part of any of those parties? b. Does the Svalbard Global Seed Vault play such an important role in crop diversity conservation as it claims to? In order to answer these questions, this study followed a qualitative approach based on two research techniques namely online surveys conducted among agronomists and document analysis. The present investigation concluded that the Svalbard Vault and the parties involved in its creation and operation do entail ethical concerns related to issues of intellectual property rights over plant materials handled by some of its depositors. All things considered, the Svalbard Vault does not seem to contribute to agrodiversity conservation as much as it could be expected.