WEBVTT

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♪

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♪

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Hidden deep inside
a massive mountain

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on the inhospitable island
of Svalbard,

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is the world\'s
most important safe,

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the global seed vault.

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inside, it\'s minus 20 degrees
centigrade,

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it\'s built to withstand
earthquakes, floods,

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rocket attacks
ant nuclear disasters.

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♪

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It\'s the Noah\'s Ark
of our food production

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with the greatest diversity
of seeds in the world,

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a backup of as many plants
as possible

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and a toolbox for plant breeders

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and that\'s vitally important,
because in 2050,

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the world will have nine billion
mouths to feed.

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That literally
and figuratively makes seed

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the source of all future life.

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With the increasing strategic
importance of seed,

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a fundamental discussion
has erupted

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about the question,
\"Who actually owns the seed?\"

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Not all countries want
to hand their seed collections

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over to the vault.

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Emerging markets
see their seed collections

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as a green gold mine
available at their feet

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and big companies are patenting
their new seeds.

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This is what you can expect.

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Consequence of patents is that
others cannot use your seeds.

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I think we need
a correction on that,

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on the use of patents
in plant breeding in the city.

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♪

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Without this diversity,
we really don\'t have

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a viable agricultural system.

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The crops in the fields
will last for some years,

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but not forever
and what happens

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is that an insect or a pest
will mutate or change

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in some way or migrate
to a new place

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and start to attack the crop
and in many of our fields today,

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we have a lot
of genetic uniformities,

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so if a new insect likes
the first plant

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that it finds in the field,
it\'s going to like them all.

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Welcome to the seed battle.

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♪

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In 2050, our planet will have
an estimated nine billion

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human inhabitants.

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They will all need to eat
and we\'re short

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of food as it is.

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Will that lead
to a doom scenario

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of war and hunger,
or will we manage

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to prevent this apocalypse?

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♪

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Will we be able to produce
sufficient food in 2050?

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♪

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There are serious reasons
to doubt that,

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our crops will have
to produce higher yields,

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be resistant
to ever-mutating diseases,

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and be adapted
to global warming.

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♪

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There\'s one prerequisite
to solving all these problems,

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diversity.

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♪

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The genetic diversity of seeds
and crops,

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it\'s the mission of this man,
Cary Fowler.

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He came up
with this immense idea,

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the global seed vault,
a vault for storing

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all the world\'s
food producing seeds.

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The vault is hidden deep inside
a massive mountain

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on the inhospitable island
of Svalbard.

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Inside, it\'s minus 20 degrees
centigrade

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and it\'s built to withstand
earthquakes,

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floods, rocket attacks,
and nuclear disasters.

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It\'s the Noah\'s Ark
of our food production.

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♪

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Here were are in this incredible
environment,

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where nothing...
no agricultural crop grows,

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no farms, and yet,
we have the largest amount

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of crop diversity in the world,

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agricultural diversity
in the world,

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inside those doors.

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The vault is nicknamed,
\"The Doomsday Vault,\"

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and Cary Fowler is Doctor Doom.

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♪

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I think you will have
a strong emotional reaction.

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Almost everyone who goes...

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everyone I know who walks
through that door

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and goes down the length
of the tunnel

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will feel like they\'re
in a special place,

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every single person.

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You will.

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♪

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Do you know about
the new problem affecting wheat?

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Wheat stem rust,
of course, nobody does.

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This is a disease which
is mentioned in the Bible

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in association with plagues
and famine,

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and now, there\'s a new version
of this disease.

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It mutated, it was in Uganda,
it spread up through Africa

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and is now in the Mideast,
it\'s headed towards India.

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There\'s virtually no resistance
in the field,

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it\'s killing everything
in front of it

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and what\'s the solution?

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Well, the solution is that
we look in the seed banks

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for genes that give us
resistance

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to that particular disease.

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If you\'re interested
in food security,

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people not starving to death,
you have to be interested

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and concerned
about whether we have

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the diversity that\'s required
inside the seed bank

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to combat that disease.

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♪

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Yet, no matter how important
the vault is

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and how noble
Fowler\'s mission may be,

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the collection is far
from complete.

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Collecting all
of the world\'s seeds

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has encountered
unexpected resistance.

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A lot of people are involved
and want to, I don\'t know,

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conserve something
in the middle

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of the tropical rainforest
or they want

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to conserve sea turtles
or seals or whales

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or tigers or things like that.

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They\'ll never actually encounter
those animals,

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they\'ll never eat them
or use them,

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but they want to conserve them
\'cause it makes them

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feel good about conservation
and I applaud that, that\'s fine.

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But, with agricultural crops,
there\'s also a use

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for this diversity
and that\'s to keep

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our agricultural system going
and without that diversity,

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it stops.

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You can\'t look into the eyes
of an old wheat variety

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with quite the same
empathetic understanding

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as a tiger or whatever.

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So, that gives us a little
harder selling job,

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even though
that we\'re gonna have

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a rougher time ourselves
surviving on our planet

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if something happens to wheat
as opposed

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to something happening
to tigers.

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The idea behind the vault
in Svalbard is simple,

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it\'s a backup facility
where every country

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in the world can keep a copy
of their own unique collection.

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That way, there will always be
a copy available

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of every seed collection
in the world

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so that diversity is not
needlessly lost.

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Without this diversity,
we really don\'t have

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a viable agricultural system.

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The crops in the fields
will last for some years,

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but not forever
and what happens

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is that an insect
or a pest will mutate

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or change in some way,
or migrate to a new place

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and start to attack the crop
and in many of our fields today,

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we have a lot
of genetic uniformity.

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So, if a new insect likes
the first plant

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that it finds in the field,
it\'s going to like them all.

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♪

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The genetic variety of seeds
is the toolbox

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for plant breeders.

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It allows them to look for genes
that provide solutions

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to various threats.

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♪

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At Wageningen University,
researchers are intensively

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and constantly looking
to improve our crops.

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Take lettuce for example,
if we do nothing,

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it will cease to exist.

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That\'s why we have
to change it continuously

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to withstand new threats
and Marieke

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is defending our lettuce.

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♪

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♪

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The vegetables we buy
in the supermarket

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don\'t grow in the wild,
they\'ve been cultivated.

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Yet, their wild relatives
have the unique characteristics

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to help us.

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That\'s why
the Dutch seed bank CGN

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organizes costly expeditions.

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The expedition leader
is Chris Kik,

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soon, he leaves for Armenia
and Azerbaijan

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to look for wild lettuce.

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♪

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♪

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The vault on Svalbard
is managed by three parties,

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the Norwegian government,
the Nordic Genetic

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Resource Center,
and the Global Crop

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Diversity Trust.

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This independent trust,
led by Cary Fowler,

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was set up to call attention

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to the importance
of biodiversity.

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The last part is essential
because many countries

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are reluctant to entrust
their seed collections

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to the vault.

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♪

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The vault is supervised
by an advisory council

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consisting of seed bank
directors,

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scientists, agriculture
ministers, U.N. officials,

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from all corners of the globe.

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On the occasion
of their fifth anniversary,

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they come together to discuss
the progress that\'s been made.

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♪

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At the top of the agenda
is the reluctance

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of certain countries
to entrust their own

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unique seed collections
and gene diversity

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to the vault in Svalbard.

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And I\'m Greta Avian
from the Ministry

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of Agriculture and Food.

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Zachary Muthamia,
I\'m the head

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of the National Genebank
of Kenya.

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Javad Mozafari, head of

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the National Plant Genebank
of Iran.

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I\'m head of the International
Rice Genebank

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at the International Rice
Research Institute

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in the Philippines.

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My name is Bert Visser,
I\'m the director

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of the Center
for Genetic Resources

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in the Netherlands.

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The Netherlands is seen
as an example

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for other countries,
it\'s the biggest vegetable

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seed exporter in the world
and has built up

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an enormous variety of seeds.

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The Netherlands
has also sent a copy

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of its seed bank to Svalbard.

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If anything happens
in our country,

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and it could be something
very simple

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like the Rhine overflowing
and damaging our collections,

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like a fire in our stores,
or what we cannot predict,

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a political problem
in 50 years time from now,

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we\'ll still have the safe haven
of Spitsbergen

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that we can go back
to return our collections.

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2013.

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774,601 safety duplicates

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from 53 gene banks
are now deposited

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in the seed vault.

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Some of these
national collections

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are university collections,
others are NGOs.

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The vault has already
proven its value.

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Five years ago,
a copy of Syria\'s seed bank

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was stored here.

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It is currently unclear whether
the original collection

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is still intact or has
been lost due to the civil war,

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as happened to the collections
of Iraq,

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Afghanistan, and Rwanda.

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It\'s not always easier
or quick to convince

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all the countries
to use the seed vault

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and you would think that...

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any scientist, any country,
just considering this,

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it would be a no-brainer,
it would be something

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that they wouldn\'t have
to think about,

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but there\'s
so many considerations

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and governments move at glacial
speeds sometimes

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and they just don\'t do things
very quickly

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and they want to watch
and see what other countries

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are doing and you have
to explain it to them 10 times

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and, well, that\'s the way
it goes, I guess.

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That\'s the real world.

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But, of course,
we would really like

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the unique diversity
that China has.

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We would like more from India,
from Japan,

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from Iran, from Ethiopia.

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So I just to show it very
quickly, but it shows--

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I know all of those countries,
at the end of the day,

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to be rational
and act in their self-interest

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and that\'s all I want
from a country.

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Go ahead and act
in your self-interest

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and when you do that,
you\'ll put a safety copy

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up in Svalbard.

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As you can see
and as you can experience,

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we are far away from
a lot of the rest

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of the world here
and the seed vault

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is very evocative,

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but for most
would-be depositors,

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they will never see
the inside of that seed vault

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and they want to have trust
and confidence

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in what\'s going on there
and part of the role

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of this body is to be
the eyes and the ears

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for the international community

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and when we go back home,
we are ambassadors

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for the seed vault,
we\'re there to, I hope,

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proactively describe
what\'s going on.

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♪

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I think there are a lot
of things going on

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and some of them
are political sensitivities.

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There\'s still a lot
of mistrust in the world.

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Some countries are very jealous
about what they have

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and they think--

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Well, the funny thing is
that every country

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thinks that it\'s really rich
in crop diversity,

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that they\'ve got a huge amount
of very valuable,

00:19:38.999 --> 00:19:42.520
important crop diversity,
and isn\'t it fascinating,

00:19:42.520 --> 00:19:44.999
it is to me,
that every country

00:19:44.999 --> 00:19:45.999
thinks that way?

00:19:45.999 --> 00:19:47.560
But, on the other hand,
every country

00:19:47.560 --> 00:19:51.800
is totally dependent on what
the other countries have.

00:19:51.800 --> 00:19:53.999
Nevertheless, these countries
think that what they have

00:19:53.999 --> 00:19:55.480
is important
and they don\'t wanna share it

00:19:55.480 --> 00:19:57.760
because they think
they can make some business

00:19:57.760 --> 00:19:58.680
out of it.

00:19:58.680 --> 00:20:00.040
There\'s absolutely no history

00:20:00.040 --> 00:20:01.280
of success of doing that.

00:20:01.280 --> 00:20:03.880
I don\'t know of any examples
of a country

00:20:03.880 --> 00:20:05.000
being able to do that.

00:20:05.000 --> 00:20:06.680
So, that doesn\'t work
and so,

00:20:06.680 --> 00:20:08.120
there are some
political reasons,

00:20:08.120 --> 00:20:11.999
but I think sometimes, you know,
it\'s just...

00:20:11.999 --> 00:20:14.999
it actually boils down
to the director

00:20:14.999 --> 00:20:16.960
or the manager of the genebank

00:20:16.960 --> 00:20:22.280
and it can be psychological
or political at that level.

00:20:22.280 --> 00:20:25.480
You have to work around
the politics, the law,

00:20:25.480 --> 00:20:28.999
and the personalities
to get this done.

00:20:28.999 --> 00:20:33.160
♪

00:20:33.160 --> 00:20:35.240
I guess I will take
a picture of me.

00:20:35.240 --> 00:20:36.320
Okay.

00:20:36.320 --> 00:20:37.999
You want a picture of you?

00:20:37.999 --> 00:20:41.960
It is pretty cold.

00:20:41.960 --> 00:20:44.120
This?

00:20:44.120 --> 00:20:44.999
Here?

00:20:44.999 --> 00:20:46.600
Yeah.

00:20:46.600 --> 00:20:47.760
I\'m gonna do it this way.

00:20:47.760 --> 00:20:52.720
Yeah, please,
take as many as you can.

00:20:52.720 --> 00:20:54.520
Hey, are we ready?

00:20:54.520 --> 00:20:55.760
Yeah, exactly.

00:20:55.760 --> 00:20:57.520
♪

00:20:57.520 --> 00:21:00.720
Some countries regard the seeds
as their property,

00:21:00.720 --> 00:21:03.760
which prevents them
from sending their collections

00:21:03.760 --> 00:21:05.800
to the vault in Svalbard.

00:21:05.800 --> 00:21:07.999
There\'s nothing strange
about that.

00:21:07.999 --> 00:21:11.520
The seed industry
is big business.

00:21:13.480 --> 00:21:16.240
In the Netherlands,
the industry works closely

00:21:16.240 --> 00:21:18.360
with Wageningen University.

00:21:18.360 --> 00:21:20.640
By joining forces,
the Netherlands is at

00:21:20.640 --> 00:21:23.600
the forefront
of the quest for food safety

00:21:23.600 --> 00:21:27.200
and that\'s in the interest
of both parties.

00:21:27.200 --> 00:21:35.280
♪

00:21:35.280 --> 00:21:37.999
We now have to anticipate
the consequences

00:21:37.999 --> 00:21:43.120
of climate change, so we need
more drought tolerant,

00:21:43.120 --> 00:21:45.960
sometimes more salt tolerant
varieties,

00:21:45.960 --> 00:21:47.640
heat tolerant varieties.

00:21:47.640 --> 00:21:49.920
You\'ll see new diseases
and pests,

00:21:49.920 --> 00:21:52.040
you can be certain
that the industry anticipates

00:21:52.040 --> 00:21:54.160
all those new developments
and tries to,

00:21:54.160 --> 00:21:55.600
in the the interest
of the sector

00:21:55.600 --> 00:21:57.160
and the companies, of course,

00:21:57.160 --> 00:21:59.120
to create as large a market

00:21:59.120 --> 00:22:01.320
for its produce as possible.

00:22:01.320 --> 00:22:05.960
♪

00:22:05.960 --> 00:22:09.400
The Dutch seed bank, CGN,
is setting off an expedition

00:22:09.400 --> 00:22:12.840
for wild lettuce
paid for by the government

00:22:12.840 --> 00:22:14.080
and the industry.

00:22:14.080 --> 00:22:32.120
♪

00:22:50.600 --> 00:22:52.999
The way we are funded
by our ministry,

00:22:52.999 --> 00:22:55.640
it means we can only go
on collection missions

00:22:55.640 --> 00:22:59.360
if there\'s only sponsorship
from some interested companies,

00:22:59.360 --> 00:23:00.680
so that\'s the deal.

00:23:00.680 --> 00:23:04.320
And then, they can use
the material to explore

00:23:04.320 --> 00:23:07.440
the diversity in that material
and that\'s done

00:23:07.440 --> 00:23:09.280
in shared interest,
if you like,

00:23:09.280 --> 00:23:14.999
and that allows us to go out
on a collecting mission,

00:23:14.999 --> 00:23:17.840
but we always stick
to our own mandate

00:23:17.840 --> 00:23:20.999
which is that all that material
should eventually

00:23:20.999 --> 00:23:23.480
be available to any user.

00:23:23.480 --> 00:23:36.600
♪

00:23:36.600 --> 00:23:39.999
With so many interests,
you start to wonder,

00:23:39.999 --> 00:23:41.999
\"Who owns the seed, anyway?

00:23:41.999 --> 00:23:47.680
The seed bank, the industry,
or all of us?\"

00:23:47.680 --> 00:23:50.880
It\'s very difficult
to answer questions

00:23:50.880 --> 00:23:52.440
on food crops.

00:23:52.440 --> 00:23:53.360
Who owns them?

00:23:53.360 --> 00:23:56.960
We try not to answer
that question.

00:23:56.960 --> 00:23:58.880
We have always said
that we maintain

00:23:58.880 --> 00:24:03.200
those collections
for the benefit of humankind.

00:24:03.200 --> 00:24:06.440
But it\'s also recognized
that if it\'s used,

00:24:06.440 --> 00:24:07.999
it can be used
for commercial practic--

00:24:07.999 --> 00:24:11.880
purposes and if it\'s used
for commercial purposes,

00:24:11.880 --> 00:24:15.999
then it can also be protected
by intellectual property rights.

00:24:15.999 --> 00:24:19.240
That\'s international policy,
that\'s the conditions

00:24:19.240 --> 00:24:23.280
in which we have to work
as a genetic resources center

00:24:23.280 --> 00:24:25.560
and which we do respect.

00:24:25.560 --> 00:24:29.960
Still, the ownership of seed
is a controversial issue.

00:24:29.960 --> 00:24:32.999
Due to the importance
of food and food seeds,

00:24:32.999 --> 00:24:34.920
more and more
seed companies claim

00:24:34.920 --> 00:24:38.840
the intellectual property rights
of their newest seeds.

00:24:38.840 --> 00:24:43.680
They patent the seeds
and charge for their use.

00:24:43.680 --> 00:24:44.999
That is at odds
with the tradition

00:24:44.999 --> 00:24:48.160
of free accessibility,
which is essential

00:24:48.160 --> 00:24:49.999
for food safety.

00:24:49.999 --> 00:24:52.600
That battle is intensifying.

00:24:52.600 --> 00:25:00.840
♪

00:25:00.840 --> 00:25:03.999
If a battle means that they\'re
very different positions,

00:25:03.999 --> 00:25:08.640
sometimes opposing positions
as to how access

00:25:08.640 --> 00:25:10.120
should be organized
and how benefits

00:25:10.120 --> 00:25:13.800
should be shared, yes,
you could call that a battle.

00:25:13.800 --> 00:25:34.320
♪

00:25:34.320 --> 00:25:37.999
Besides patent rights,
there are also other threats

00:25:37.999 --> 00:25:40.800
that endanger food safety.

00:25:40.800 --> 00:25:45.080
Cary Fowler is visiting
the town of Pavlovsk in Russia.

00:25:45.080 --> 00:25:50.280
He was invited to the Pavlovsk
Experimental Station.

00:25:50.280 --> 00:25:52.000
It contains
the biggest collection

00:25:52.000 --> 00:25:56.360
of fruit and berry seeds
in Europe.

00:25:56.360 --> 00:25:58.800
The office is located
in an old church

00:25:58.800 --> 00:26:03.400
and at first glance,
it all looks rather dilapidated.

00:26:03.400 --> 00:26:14.160
♪

00:26:14.160 --> 00:26:16.960
I think you can see
that this place

00:26:16.960 --> 00:26:19.680
has fallen on some hard times.

00:26:19.680 --> 00:26:21.840
In fact, the hard times,
I think, have lasted

00:26:21.840 --> 00:26:24.040
for about 30 years here.

00:26:24.040 --> 00:26:26.680
♪

00:26:26.680 --> 00:26:29.800
Russian property developers
had claimed the land

00:26:29.800 --> 00:26:33.080
and were ready to raze
everything to the ground.

00:26:33.080 --> 00:26:35.760
♪

00:26:35.760 --> 00:26:37.000
Okay.

00:26:37.000 --> 00:26:48.760
♪

00:26:48.760 --> 00:26:51.480
-Hello, how are you?
-Hello, good to see you.

00:26:51.480 --> 00:26:52.640
Good to see you.

00:26:52.640 --> 00:26:56.999
Welcome, this is Natalya,
the curator

00:26:56.999 --> 00:26:59.760
of Goodberry Connection.

00:26:59.760 --> 00:27:00.999
I\'ll go first.

00:27:00.999 --> 00:27:02.400
Gooseberry.

00:27:02.400 --> 00:27:05.440
Okay, do you want drink
some cup of tea?

00:27:05.440 --> 00:27:08.320
-Uh, well.
-Or maybe...?

00:27:08.320 --> 00:27:12.960
I\'m fine, I\'m fine,
how about you?

00:27:12.960 --> 00:27:15.800
I think about drink of tea.

00:27:15.800 --> 00:27:17.999
You want some tea, okay.

00:27:17.999 --> 00:27:20.760
Okay, what kind of collection
do you want to visit?

00:27:20.760 --> 00:27:26.120
Well, some of the berries,
where are the strawberries?

00:27:26.120 --> 00:27:28.960
-Strawberry here.
-Yeah.

00:27:28.960 --> 00:27:32.760
This is strawberry still...

00:27:32.760 --> 00:27:35.600
When Fowler learned this unique
and diverse collection

00:27:35.600 --> 00:27:37.680
of berries, apples,
and strawberries

00:27:37.680 --> 00:27:39.880
would be destroyed,
he started

00:27:39.880 --> 00:27:42.999
an international
media offensive.

00:27:42.999 --> 00:27:44.840
He managed to get
the Russian government

00:27:44.840 --> 00:27:49.000
to declare the Pavlovsk Gardens
a protected area.

00:27:49.000 --> 00:28:05.440
♪

00:28:05.440 --> 00:28:06.960
You gotta ask yourself,
you know,

00:28:06.960 --> 00:28:11.760
what\'s wrong in our world
that you would even consider

00:28:11.760 --> 00:28:15.040
losing 900,000 varieties
of strawberries

00:28:15.040 --> 00:28:18.840
to replace it
with one more parking lot

00:28:18.840 --> 00:28:21.080
or a condo or whatever
kind of thing

00:28:21.080 --> 00:28:22.560
that\'s gonna be made here.

00:28:22.560 --> 00:28:24.200
I mean, what kind
of trade-off is that?

00:28:24.200 --> 00:28:27.999
Why would we even think
that there was a benefit

00:28:27.999 --> 00:28:28.920
to doing that?

00:28:28.920 --> 00:28:29.800
Don\'t know.

00:28:29.800 --> 00:28:31.480
But, that\'s
what they had in mind,

00:28:31.480 --> 00:28:32.680
\'cause they were measuring it

00:28:32.680 --> 00:28:34.999
by economic efficiency,
you know?

00:28:34.999 --> 00:28:38.040
And this amount of land

00:28:38.040 --> 00:28:42.320
in a big, rich person\'s house
generates more money,

00:28:42.320 --> 00:28:44.400
in some way,
than these rows

00:28:44.400 --> 00:28:45.999
of strawberries right here.

00:28:45.999 --> 00:28:48.080
So, of course
it\'s more important,

00:28:48.080 --> 00:28:50.999
but no, I don\'t think so.

00:28:50.999 --> 00:29:19.560
♪

00:29:19.560 --> 00:29:23.999
Nobody is supporting developers
paving over land,

00:29:23.999 --> 00:29:26.840
building big homes
for rich people in order

00:29:26.840 --> 00:29:31.520
to send a lot of biodiversity
into extinction,

00:29:31.520 --> 00:29:32.880
nobody supports that.

00:29:32.880 --> 00:29:35.000
So, the politicians
and the developers,

00:29:35.000 --> 00:29:38.999
they depend
on lack of awareness

00:29:38.999 --> 00:29:43.760
and in doing things
in the darkness, in a sense.

00:29:43.760 --> 00:29:47.080
So, the biggest weapon we have

00:29:47.080 --> 00:29:51.360
is simply people being aware,
the general public,

00:29:51.360 --> 00:29:52.400
and isn\'t that incredible?

00:29:52.400 --> 00:29:56.960
Because, you know,
the government should realize

00:29:56.960 --> 00:29:59.040
if it\'s one thing
about agriculture

00:29:59.040 --> 00:30:01.999
that people support,
it should be conserving

00:30:01.999 --> 00:30:03.280
this biodiversity.

00:30:03.280 --> 00:30:04.520
Who\'s against that?

00:30:04.520 --> 00:30:07.440
Who\'s against it?

00:30:07.440 --> 00:30:13.480
♪

00:30:13.480 --> 00:30:15.920
The Pavlovsk
Experimental Station

00:30:15.920 --> 00:30:18.000
is part of
the Vavilov Institute,

00:30:18.000 --> 00:30:20.999
located in the heart
of St. Petersburg.

00:30:20.999 --> 00:30:23.400
It dates back to a time
when Russia was at

00:30:23.400 --> 00:30:25.920
the forefront of world science.

00:30:25.920 --> 00:30:27.999
♪

00:30:27.999 --> 00:30:31.080
It houses the biggest
and oldest seed collection

00:30:31.080 --> 00:30:32.120
in the world.

00:30:32.120 --> 00:30:34.360
It was named after
the Russian botanist,

00:30:34.360 --> 00:30:37.360
Nikolay Vavilov,
who travelled the world

00:30:37.360 --> 00:30:42.999
in the early 20th century
looking for all kinds of seeds.

00:30:42.999 --> 00:30:46.360
The Institute still operates
in the same manner,

00:30:46.360 --> 00:30:49.360
unchanged by the passing
of time.

00:30:49.360 --> 00:30:52.320
The conditions under which
the seed are stored

00:30:52.320 --> 00:30:54.360
also date back to that era.

00:30:54.360 --> 00:30:58.640
For Fowler, it\'s a collection
that must be saved at all costs.

00:30:58.640 --> 00:31:00.880
The Vavilov collection
is one of the largest

00:31:00.880 --> 00:31:03.999
in the world,
one of the best in the world,

00:31:03.999 --> 00:31:09.520
the oldest in the world,
and only a portion of it

00:31:09.520 --> 00:31:12.440
is duplicated in Svalbard,
so we need

00:31:12.440 --> 00:31:14.840
to get the rest of it up there.

00:31:16.840 --> 00:31:28.800
♪

00:31:28.800 --> 00:31:32.999
The feeling I mostly have
is being very humble...

00:31:32.999 --> 00:31:36.720
♪

00:31:36.720 --> 00:31:38.840
because...

00:31:38.840 --> 00:31:41.080
when you go into a room
and you see hundreds

00:31:41.080 --> 00:31:43.640
and hundreds of these tin boxes
and you open up

00:31:43.640 --> 00:31:47.999
one of those boxes
and inside that box

00:31:47.999 --> 00:31:52.080
will be 10 different packages
with seeds in it,

00:31:52.080 --> 00:31:54.080
do you realize
what people had to do

00:31:54.080 --> 00:31:58.160
to get just those 10 packages
of seeds?

00:31:58.160 --> 00:32:01.640
They might\'ve had
to cross an ocean,

00:32:01.640 --> 00:32:07.440
walk over a mountain,
endure all kinds of hardships,

00:32:07.440 --> 00:32:14.000
so I just see
this immense heritage

00:32:14.000 --> 00:32:19.320
that people went through this

00:32:19.320 --> 00:32:25.640
and presented us with this.

00:32:25.640 --> 00:32:28.680
And it...

00:32:31.760 --> 00:32:34.800
then, I\'m flooded with different
kinds of emotions:

00:32:34.800 --> 00:32:40.960
Respect and admiration
and love, humility, anger.

00:32:40.960 --> 00:32:44.840
Could we take a look
in one of these boxes?

00:32:44.840 --> 00:32:45.560
Yes, okay.

00:32:45.560 --> 00:32:48.800
Or maybe one of the old ones?

00:32:52.400 --> 00:32:56.160
This is France.

00:32:59.360 --> 00:33:00.440
Oh, yeah.

00:33:00.440 --> 00:33:03.520
This...this is...

00:33:03.520 --> 00:33:10.800
Old one material
is was collected in.

00:33:10.800 --> 00:33:14.880
This is USA without the blooms.

00:33:14.880 --> 00:33:16.240
This is naked toads.

00:33:16.240 --> 00:33:20.600
It will be easy to find that
in the database.

00:33:20.600 --> 00:33:21.000
Yes.

00:33:21.000 --> 00:33:24.999
It\'s from
Canada collection, too.

00:33:24.999 --> 00:33:26.999
Take a look at this.

00:33:26.999 --> 00:33:29.999
We have some.

00:33:29.999 --> 00:33:33.240
You feel like
you\'re opening up a box

00:33:33.240 --> 00:33:36.720
and seeing some kind
of hidden treasure

00:33:36.720 --> 00:33:40.960
and that\'s...
that\'s very delicate,

00:33:40.960 --> 00:33:45.360
that, not like gold or silver,
but this could just

00:33:45.360 --> 00:33:46.999
blow away.

00:33:46.999 --> 00:33:49.360
This is the original
way of storing

00:33:49.360 --> 00:33:51.999
the seeds here isn\'t it,
more or less?

00:33:51.999 --> 00:33:56.880
Yeah, it\'s a non-control
condition storage.

00:33:56.880 --> 00:33:58.280
-And in these boxes?
-Yeah.

00:33:58.280 --> 00:34:00.560
Here is usually,
now we seem to have

00:34:00.560 --> 00:34:04.440
a very high humidity,
especially in wintertime, too.

00:34:04.440 --> 00:34:07.000
It\'s not so good conditions
for the seeds,

00:34:07.000 --> 00:34:10.360
but most or part
of our collection

00:34:10.360 --> 00:34:14.520
were maintained over storage
in such conditions.

00:34:14.520 --> 00:34:19.840
No one, no human being
should be able to look at that,

00:34:19.840 --> 00:34:25.200
to look at those seeds
and not feel something

00:34:25.200 --> 00:34:27.999
because then, you\'re dead.

00:34:27.999 --> 00:34:50.600
♪

00:34:50.600 --> 00:34:53.560
Across town, we have one
of the great art museums

00:34:53.560 --> 00:34:56.200
in the world, the Hermitage.

00:34:56.200 --> 00:35:01.240
Leonardo da Vinci, Matisse,
incredible paintings.

00:35:01.240 --> 00:35:04.840
If someone were
to inform the government

00:35:04.840 --> 00:35:07.880
that day by day,
month by month,

00:35:07.880 --> 00:35:09.999
year by year,
we\'re going to take

00:35:09.999 --> 00:35:16.480
some paintings out
and destroy them slowly,

00:35:16.480 --> 00:35:18.120
that would not be acceptable.

00:35:18.120 --> 00:35:21.120
And here we are, sitting
at the Vavilov institute,

00:35:21.120 --> 00:35:26.440
one of the world\'s great
collections of crop diversity.

00:35:26.440 --> 00:35:29.200
Equally beautiful, I think.

00:35:29.200 --> 00:35:32.120
So, if someone were to say,

00:35:32.120 --> 00:35:35.800
\"Well, look at this collection,
this is also

00:35:35.800 --> 00:35:39.440
a collection of art,
also traces its ancestry

00:35:39.440 --> 00:35:41.880
back hundreds,
thousands of years,

00:35:41.880 --> 00:35:45.560
has incredible importance
for the future,

00:35:45.560 --> 00:35:49.040
we\'re gonna let it die
day by day,

00:35:49.040 --> 00:35:50.520
month by month,
year by year,

00:35:50.520 --> 00:35:53.999
less and less of it
is gonna be there.\"

00:35:53.999 --> 00:35:55.320
Is this acceptable?

00:35:55.320 --> 00:35:57.999
Is it more acceptable
that we lose this collection,

00:35:57.999 --> 00:36:00.600
that we lose the collection
at the Hermitage?

00:36:00.600 --> 00:36:02.999
I don\'t think so.

00:36:02.999 --> 00:36:05.999
But for some reason,
politicians typically

00:36:05.999 --> 00:36:07.920
don\'t see it quite that way.

00:36:07.920 --> 00:36:08.720
\"An art collection, is, well,

00:36:08.720 --> 00:36:10.760
that\'s really valuable
and we have to preserve it.

00:36:10.760 --> 00:36:15.640
We\'ll have guards out front
and security systems inside.

00:36:15.640 --> 00:36:18.160
A seed collection?\"

00:36:18.160 --> 00:36:20.760
♪

00:36:20.760 --> 00:36:23.880
But no matter how valuable
the collection may be,

00:36:23.880 --> 00:36:25.999
Fowler is dependent
on Russian authorities

00:36:25.999 --> 00:36:31.400
to safeguard the collection
and to send a copy to Svalbard.

00:36:31.400 --> 00:36:33.680
With that in mind,
he has requested a meeting

00:36:33.680 --> 00:36:38.000
with the director
of the Vavilov Institute.

00:36:38.000 --> 00:36:42.080
Tell me about where you are
with the digitalizing

00:36:42.080 --> 00:36:45.280
of the records
and computerization here,

00:36:45.280 --> 00:36:47.280
\'cause I know that was,
I mean,

00:36:47.280 --> 00:36:49.120
we were really interested
in trying

00:36:49.120 --> 00:36:52.720
to support your work in that.

00:36:52.720 --> 00:36:55.280
It\'s difficult
because, you know,

00:36:55.280 --> 00:36:58.240
how to calculate,
this is a big problem.

00:36:58.240 --> 00:37:01.160
\'Cause, you know,
for the maintenance

00:37:01.160 --> 00:37:03.999
of the collection,
there is no money.

00:37:03.999 --> 00:37:06.640
♪

00:37:06.640 --> 00:37:09.120
The other thing
I wanted to ask you about

00:37:09.120 --> 00:37:12.480
is Svalbard.

00:37:12.480 --> 00:37:15.760
♪

00:37:15.760 --> 00:37:19.240
There\'s no...

00:37:19.240 --> 00:37:23.000
negative, there\'s additives
from our curators

00:37:23.000 --> 00:37:23.999
of the collection.

00:37:23.999 --> 00:37:28.120
It\'s a funding question again,
to get more

00:37:28.120 --> 00:37:29.480
of the collection up here?

00:37:29.480 --> 00:37:32.999
♪

00:37:32.999 --> 00:37:36.999
Not any bureaucrat
or not any person say

00:37:36.999 --> 00:37:40.720
it\'s prohibited
or, \"You cannot do this.\"

00:37:40.720 --> 00:37:43.040
Well, we have to stay in touch
on that issue,

00:37:43.040 --> 00:37:46.480
so, you know, if we can find
some way to help you

00:37:46.480 --> 00:37:51.720
or to get the important,
unique parts of the collection

00:37:51.720 --> 00:37:54.600
up there just in case.

00:37:55.080 --> 00:37:59.120
This is not the first battle
over Vavilov\'s collection.

00:37:59.120 --> 00:38:03.160
During the Second World War,
Nazi Germany laid siege

00:38:03.160 --> 00:38:04.600
to St. Petersburg.

00:38:04.600 --> 00:38:08.720
Hitler sent a special army unit
to capture the seed collection

00:38:08.720 --> 00:38:11.400
for the Third Reich.

00:38:11.400 --> 00:38:14.600
They failed,
but many people at the Institute

00:38:14.600 --> 00:38:16.440
paid for it with their lives.

00:38:16.440 --> 00:38:18.680
These are all the people
who died here

00:38:18.680 --> 00:38:21.999
who gave their life here.

00:38:21.999 --> 00:38:23.999
They realized
that this collection

00:38:23.999 --> 00:38:29.560
was going to be essential
to establishing agriculture

00:38:29.560 --> 00:38:32.999
in Russia and, they thought,
the entire world after the war,

00:38:32.999 --> 00:38:35.360
so they understood
that what they were doing

00:38:35.360 --> 00:38:39.320
was conserving that foundation,
that future,

00:38:39.320 --> 00:38:40.920
for agriculture
and they believed

00:38:40.920 --> 00:38:43.640
they were giving their life
so that many,

00:38:43.640 --> 00:38:45.999
many other people could live.

00:38:45.999 --> 00:38:49.999
So, these are, you know,
there are, even now,

00:38:49.999 --> 00:38:53.080
these are heroes, really.

00:38:53.080 --> 00:38:54.760
Heroes.

00:38:54.760 --> 00:38:56.999
♪

00:38:56.999 --> 00:38:59.600
Vavilov suffered a similar fate.

00:38:59.600 --> 00:39:01.560
He was thrown in jail by Stalin

00:39:01.560 --> 00:39:05.640
for subversive activities

00:39:05.640 --> 00:39:07.840
resulting in his death.

00:39:07.840 --> 00:39:37.880
♪

00:39:37.880 --> 00:39:39.480
Cary Fowler
has a long way to go

00:39:39.480 --> 00:39:42.960
before he has copied
all of the world\'s diversity

00:39:42.960 --> 00:39:46.160
to Svalbard.

00:39:46.160 --> 00:39:49.200
It\'s a cold comfort,
because, for now,

00:39:49.200 --> 00:39:52.600
he won\'t be getting any seeds
from Russia,

00:39:52.600 --> 00:39:54.760
but for his efforts
in saving the garden

00:39:54.760 --> 00:39:57.040
in Pavlovsk,
Cary Fowler will be made

00:39:57.040 --> 00:40:02.560
a member of the Russian Academy
of Agricultural Sciences.

00:40:11.999 --> 00:40:14.120
Thank you so much.

00:40:14.120 --> 00:40:18.840
(applause)

00:40:21.080 --> 00:40:25.600
Conservation for the future
of mankind is a noble goal,

00:40:25.600 --> 00:40:28.520
but it requires an earthly
and banal struggle

00:40:28.520 --> 00:40:31.680
against all kinds of economical,
political,

00:40:31.680 --> 00:40:34.040
and personal motives.

00:40:34.040 --> 00:40:36.520
And the battle for the
intellectual property rights

00:40:36.520 --> 00:40:41.280
of seeds is growing
ever fiercer and murkier.

00:40:41.280 --> 00:40:43.880
Increasingly,
claims about seed rights

00:40:43.880 --> 00:40:46.880
are being fought out
in court rooms.

00:40:46.880 --> 00:40:50.360
Big multinationals
like Monsanto and Syngenta

00:40:50.360 --> 00:40:52.999
patent their seed
and sue anyone who uses

00:40:52.999 --> 00:40:56.999
their patented seed
without paying extra for it.

00:40:56.999 --> 00:40:59.240
♪

00:40:59.240 --> 00:41:03.440
The battle over seed
has become the domain of lawyers

00:41:03.440 --> 00:41:06.800
as control over our food
slowly gravitates

00:41:06.800 --> 00:41:09.120
toward the industry.

00:41:09.120 --> 00:41:11.640
The consequence of patents
is that others

00:41:11.640 --> 00:41:13.880
cannot use your seeds,
not even

00:41:13.880 --> 00:41:16.840
for their own breeding programs
and for their own research,

00:41:16.840 --> 00:41:20.720
at least, that is the case
in patents in many countries.

00:41:20.720 --> 00:41:23.240
And this is why
many plant breeders,

00:41:23.240 --> 00:41:26.560
many stakeholders,
all the stakeholders,

00:41:26.560 --> 00:41:30.360
feel that we should stay away
from patents

00:41:30.360 --> 00:41:32.040
and this is also a discussion,
of course,

00:41:32.040 --> 00:41:34.440
has been a discussion
in our government,

00:41:34.440 --> 00:41:38.320
in our parliament,
and also at the level

00:41:38.320 --> 00:41:40.320
of the European Union.

00:41:40.320 --> 00:41:44.560
And I do feel
that if you want to promote

00:41:44.560 --> 00:41:47.120
free availability
of genetic resources,

00:41:47.120 --> 00:41:49.640
it\'s in the interest
of that free availability

00:41:49.640 --> 00:41:52.840
if also the seeds
that improve varieties

00:41:52.840 --> 00:41:56.720
can be very useful
for the research and breeding.

00:41:56.720 --> 00:41:58.720
♪

00:41:58.720 --> 00:42:02.080
But it\'s in the interest
of genetic diversity

00:42:02.080 --> 00:42:04.840
that all farmers
can play with the seeds,

00:42:04.840 --> 00:42:07.880
with the diversity of the seeds
to the maximum extent,

00:42:07.880 --> 00:42:13.999
including by playing
with material from Monsanto

00:42:13.999 --> 00:42:16.960
and it\'s obvious that this
is prevented

00:42:16.960 --> 00:42:21.999
by these sort of court cases.

00:42:21.999 --> 00:42:24.400
I doubt whether the use
of patents,

00:42:24.400 --> 00:42:27.280
as it is done now
in plant breeding industry,

00:42:27.280 --> 00:42:29.999
is the best way
to obtain food security.

00:42:29.999 --> 00:42:31.680
I think we need
a correction on that,

00:42:31.680 --> 00:42:34.600
on the use of patents
in plant breeding industry.

00:42:34.600 --> 00:42:38.440
♪

00:42:38.440 --> 00:42:40.000
What happened to
the traditional system

00:42:40.000 --> 00:42:43.240
of plant breeder\'s rights
which has been in place

00:42:43.240 --> 00:42:45.999
in the Netherlands
for so long?

00:42:45.999 --> 00:42:46.999
According to these rights,

00:42:46.999 --> 00:42:50.320
all seed is freely accessible
to everyone.

00:42:50.320 --> 00:42:51.920
As a result,
the Netherlands has

00:42:51.920 --> 00:42:53.999
a flourishing
plant breeding industry

00:42:53.999 --> 00:42:57.720
and is the largest exporter
of vegetable seed.

00:42:57.720 --> 00:42:59.720
Under these, so-called,
plant breeder\'s rights,

00:42:59.720 --> 00:43:03.280
which is a form of soft patent,
you might call it,

00:43:03.280 --> 00:43:06.400
anyone can use the seed
of a commercial

00:43:06.400 --> 00:43:09.560
and protected variety,
not to market it,

00:43:09.560 --> 00:43:12.640
but yes, to use it
for their breeding

00:43:12.640 --> 00:43:13.280
and development.

00:43:13.280 --> 00:43:15.120
Also, for the future
of food security,

00:43:15.120 --> 00:43:18.240
that\'s a better option
than the use of patents

00:43:18.240 --> 00:43:21.840
in the plant breeding industry.

00:43:21.840 --> 00:43:25.000
But if all those genes
are freely accessible,

00:43:25.000 --> 00:43:28.600
how does plant breeding
actually work?

00:43:28.600 --> 00:44:44.999
♪

00:44:44.999 --> 00:44:48.720
This is how our head of lettuce
remains resistant

00:44:48.720 --> 00:44:51.920
to diseases for now.

00:44:51.920 --> 00:44:55.280
For the future of our lettuce,
explorer Chris Kik

00:44:55.280 --> 00:44:58.080
has found promising new genes.

00:44:58.080 --> 00:44:59.840
♪

00:44:59.840 --> 00:45:02.000
-This is georgica, you think?
-Yes, yes.

00:45:02.000 --> 00:45:05.120
You think this is ciriola,
this is ciriola?

00:45:05.120 --> 00:45:08.240
But we need
to have a look the seed.

00:45:08.240 --> 00:45:11.520
♪

00:45:11.520 --> 00:45:17.240
Oh, it was black seeds, yes.

00:45:17.240 --> 00:45:21.320
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:45:21.320 --> 00:45:23.280
Interesting.

00:45:23.280 --> 00:45:24.680
Okay, great, yeah.

00:45:24.680 --> 00:45:26.840
This is what we
are looking for, eh?

00:45:26.840 --> 00:45:30.040
The nice, mature seeds
of georgica, eh?

00:45:30.040 --> 00:45:33.720
And this is more
the immature seeds,

00:45:33.720 --> 00:45:35.999
but this is beautiful.

00:45:35.999 --> 00:45:37.160
Yeah, yeah.

00:45:37.160 --> 00:45:38.320
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:45:38.320 --> 00:45:40.320
I think we can collect this.

00:45:40.320 --> 00:45:41.560
Yes.

00:45:41.560 --> 00:45:45.400
(speaking Russian)

00:45:45.400 --> 00:45:47.999
Okay, now, bingo, eh?

00:45:47.999 --> 00:45:50.640
Okay, for the next one!

00:45:50.640 --> 00:45:52.400
Okay.

00:45:52.400 --> 00:45:57.999
For me, it\'s the future,
I don\'t imagine

00:45:57.999 --> 00:46:01.880
a future for human beings
that\'s a very bright future

00:46:01.880 --> 00:46:05.800
unless we can conserve
this diversity.

00:46:05.800 --> 00:46:08.960
If genebanks,
if crop diversity

00:46:08.960 --> 00:46:12.680
goes up in flames,
then we have no ability

00:46:12.680 --> 00:46:16.999
to help...to create
an agricultural system

00:46:16.999 --> 00:46:20.999
that\'s productive,
that will even survive

00:46:20.999 --> 00:46:24.280
challenges like climate change
and you can forget

00:46:24.280 --> 00:46:25.880
having a foods supply
that keeps up

00:46:25.880 --> 00:46:28.600
with population growth
or development events.

00:46:28.600 --> 00:46:33.000
That would be off the table,
so this is the fuel

00:46:33.000 --> 00:46:37.760
that\'s going to help us
create a livable world.

00:46:37.760 --> 00:46:39.560
If you have a bad
agricultural system,

00:46:39.560 --> 00:46:41.999
if your crops are not productive
and not adaptive

00:46:41.999 --> 00:46:45.200
to your environment,
it\'s unlikely you\'ve got

00:46:45.200 --> 00:46:48.760
a prosperous, peaceful country.

00:46:48.760 --> 00:46:53.120
We\'re back on cold
and unrelenting Svalbard,

00:46:53.120 --> 00:46:58.720
back at the Doomsday Vault
where the future of mankind

00:46:58.720 --> 00:47:00.960
is being secured.

00:47:00.960 --> 00:47:15.280
♪

00:47:15.280 --> 00:47:17.360
I love this particular room,
I think of it

00:47:17.360 --> 00:47:19.440
as a cathedral in some ways.

00:47:19.440 --> 00:47:24.840
It has such tall ceilings
and it\'s so bright.

00:47:39.480 --> 00:47:44.280
I love this area
where the pipes go in and the--

00:47:44.280 --> 00:47:47.320
It\'s like stars.

00:47:47.320 --> 00:47:51.520
The whole wall
is just beautiful.

00:48:00.600 --> 00:48:05.080
Here\'s where it gets
really cold.

00:48:18.560 --> 00:48:20.680
Now.

00:48:20.680 --> 00:48:21.760
This is it?

00:48:21.760 --> 00:48:23.999
This is it, yeah.

00:48:23.999 --> 00:48:48.999
♪

00:48:48.999 --> 00:48:54.999
This is the biggest,
most diverse collection

00:48:54.999 --> 00:49:01.560
of agricultural diversity
in the world, in this room.

00:49:01.560 --> 00:49:05.200
It\'s a real history
of agriculture.

00:49:05.200 --> 00:49:07.320
It\'s a history of everything
that the crops

00:49:07.320 --> 00:49:10.320
have seen in the past
and it\'s everything

00:49:10.320 --> 00:49:13.640
the crops are going to be
in the future.

00:49:13.640 --> 00:50:01.320
♪

00:50:05.440 --> 00:50:10.400
♪