The Crop Trust, which runs a seed bank in the Arctic, “secured a doubling of its core funds” from national donors at a pledge meeting in Washington, enough to boost its endowment to $300 million. The executive director of the Crop Trust said she hoped to attract more private-sector investment, telling Reuters that funding is needed for projects such as preservation of coffee species.
At the pledge meeting, the United States agreed to provide $60 million over five years, Germany said it would give $27 million, and Australia pledged $4 million. The long-term goal is a $850 million endowment.
The Crop Trust’s main facility, on the Norwegian Arctic archipelago of Svalbard, “is a deep, frozen store against cataclysms such as nuclear war and has capacity to store 4.5 million varieties of crops,” says Reuters. It operates other seed banks around the world.