Svalbard Global Seed Vault partners direct Princess of Asturias prize money toward safeguarding vulnerable seed collections
On 23 October, representatives of the Seed Vault’s three partners participated in the Princess of Asturias Awards ceremony to receive the award for International Cooperation. The prize money will be used to support genebanks to secure important seed collections in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault.
One week after the last seed deposit of the year, representatives from the three Seed Vault partners travelled south to Oviedo, Spain, to receive the 2026 Princess of Asturias Award for International Cooperation. The day before the formal award ceremony, NordGen’s Executive Director, Lene Krøl Andersen, participated in a press conference together with Nils Kristen Sandtrøen, Minister of Agriculture and Food of Norway, and Stefan Schmitz, Executive Director of the Crop Trust. At this event, the trio announced that the €50,000 prize accompanying the award will be donated to the Emergency Reserve for Genebank Collections at Risk.
Support to future deposits
This initiative is jointly administered by FAO’s International Plant Treaty and the Crop Trust, with the aim of supporting genebanks in need of emergency support. The funding from the Asturias award will help one or more eligible genebanks prepare and deposit safety duplicates of critical seed collections in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. The three partners will jointly agree on the support to be provided, prioritizing collections that could not otherwise be deposited.
“This award recognizes an extraordinary international effort to safeguard the crop diversity on which our future food security depends. By directing the prize money toward collections that still need protection, we are extending that spirit of cooperation and helping ensure that valuable seeds remain secure for future generations,” said Nils Kristen Sandtrøen.
Opened in 2008, the Svalbard Global Seed Vault provides long-term backup storage for seed collections held in genebanks around the world. Located deep inside a mountain on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen, the facility protects safety duplicates against the potential loss of original collections due to natural disasters, conflict, equipment failures and other threats. The Seed Vault is owned by Norway and operated in partnership with NordGen and the Crop Trust. Its success depends on the contributions of more than 130 international, regional and national genebanks that deposit safety duplicates of their collections.
“The Seed Vault is a remarkable example of what international cooperation can achieve. Every deposit represents years of work by the genebanks that conserve these collections. This funding will help more of them take that important step of securing a backup in Svalbard, strengthening the global system that protects our shared crop diversity,” said Lene Krøl Andersen.
Lasting benefit to the global community
In a joint statement, the three partners emphasized that the award recognizes not only their collaboration but also the extraordinary contributions of the genebanks that have entrusted the Seed Vault with their valuable collections. The decision reflects a shared commitment to conserving crop diversity and keeping it available for everyone's benefit, forever. By helping safeguard collections that might otherwise remain vulnerable, the partners aim to ensure that the recognition received in Asturias delivers a lasting benefit to the global community.
“Crop diversity is a shared resource, and its loss anywhere diminishes the options available to farmers and breeders everywhere,” said Dr Kent Nnadozie, Secretary of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. “There could hardly be a more fitting use of an award for international cooperation. By directing the prize to the Emergency Reserve, the Seed Vault partners are turning recognition into action, helping genebanks respond to urgent threats and safeguard irreplaceable collections for future generations.”
As climate change, pests, diseases and other threats place increasing pressure on agriculture, conserving the world's crop diversity is essential to maintaining the options farmers and breeders will need in the future. The prize money will help protect a small but important part of that diversity and reinforce the international cooperation at the heart of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault.