What does Svalbard have in common with Leningrad?

Seeds are 'dreams in a packet', as Rodney and Rachel Saunders used to say, a British botanist couple known for promoting, researching and working to protect South African ornamental plants. Thanks to their work, many examples of the flora from those regions have found their way into botanical gardens around the world. In 2018, they ventured deep into the oNgoye forest in the KwaZulu-Natal region in search of rare seeds of flowers from the Gladiolus genus. Both died in unexplained circumstances, murdered by persons unknown and for reasons unknown. Beautiful, endangered in the wild, the Gladiolus saundersii commemorates the work of some of the last 'plant hunters' and seed collectors.

One of the figures who made a particularly significant contribution to the study and research of plant diversity was Nikolai Vavilov (1887–1943) – a Moscow-based botanist and geneticist who travelled across five continents, collecting thousands of plant samples from Europe, Asia, Africa, the Americas and the Middle East. Vavilov undertook 180 expeditions to 64 countries, from which he brought back vast quantities of cuttings and seeds. This collection formed the basis for the creation of the world's first seed bank. Vavilov believed that only a rich collection of diverse crop seeds could save humanity from starvation.

With the political changes in Russia, Petrograd was renamed Leningrad, but the institute continued to operate. War broke out, and one of the most tragic and longest sieges in history began in Leningrad. As many as a million inhabitants of the city, cut off for over two years from supplies of food, fuel and medicines, may have died of starvation and cold. And in the midst of this calamity stood the institute, full of sacks of rice, nuts, wheat and maize. The staff, however, decided that the collections were sacrosanct – a treasure for future generations that must not be touched. Nine scientists died of starvation, but the bank's reserves remained untouched.

Vavilov's idea was taken to the next level by the global seed vault in Svalbard. This is the so-called 'doomsday vault', which contains over 1.2 million seeds from all over the world. The Svalbard Global Seed Vault is located in Norway, on the ice-bound island of Spitsbergen, deep within the Platåberget mountain. Each sample is secured in a metal canister, stored at a temperature of -18°C.

The originator of this project was Cary Fowler, an American scientist – historian and sociologist – who only later began to focus on agricultural policy and plant biodiversity. As a historian, Fowler was aware of examples of the disastrous impact of monoculture on people's quality of life. In the mid-19th century, most families in Ireland lived in poverty and subsisted almost exclusively on potato cultivation. In 1845, Phytophthora infestans, a fungal disease of the potato, appeared and destroyed entire fields within days. Around a million people died of starvation and disease, and a further two million emigrated to the US and Canada – Ireland's population fell by 25%.

To paraphrase the Saunders, one could say that, in the form of seeds, Poland has deposited tiny packets of potential bread, pancakes and toast in the Norwegian vault.