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Announcing Support to Back up Crop Collections in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault

Date: 2021.10.04

Contact: info@nordgen.org

Because seeds don’t last forever, not even in genebanks, the Crop Trust and partners will help genebanks and other seed collection holders in their efforts to regenerate and back up crop diversity collections in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault.

(This text was originally published by the Crop Trust.)

The Crop Trust, in coordination with its partners at NordGen and the Norwegian Ministry of Food and Agriculture, as well as the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (Plant Treaty), are launching a competitive grant scheme to support the backing up of crop diversity in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault.

Grants are made possible under the newly announced Biodiversity for Opportunities, Livelihoods and Development (BOLD) project, a 10-year effort generously funded by the Government of Norway and led by the Crop Trust.

Grant recipients will receive technical and financial support from the Crop Trust for the regeneration, shipment and safety duplication of their collections in the Seed Vault.

This call is global and open to all crop collection holders in lower- and middle-income countries, including NGOs, community seedbanks, Indigenous organizations and university collections.

A minimum of 20 crop collections are expected to benefit from this opportunity. Applications will be evaluated by an expert panel.

Collections that need only support to cover shipping costs (and not for regeneration of seeds) can apply for a separate grant geared specifically towards this by reaching out to the Crop Trust directly.

All applications for the grant scheme must be received at the Crop Trust no later than 14 November 2021. Successful applicants will be notified in writing by the end of December 2021.

All proposals must be written in English on the official Crop Trust proposal template. Please get in touch in case you require assistance translating a proposal into English. Completed proposal templates can be shared electronically by uploading them to the following link.

The Crop Trust is establishing a helpdesk to facilitate the preparation and submission of proposals. Applicants are invited to email Beri Bonglim (beri.bonglim@croptrust.org) should they require support in the preparation and submission of proposals or shipment requests. The helpdesk will operate in English.

For full instructions on how to apply, please see the Call for Proposals.