1. "We must conserve the seeds that will allow agriculture to adapt to challenges such as climate change and crop disease," said Prof. Cary Fowler, the Executive Director of the Global Crop Diversity Trust.

2. The Norway funded-construction, into frozen rock in Svalbard, Norway, not far from the North Pole, begins in April 2007 and will last six months or so. The Trust will co-fund the vault's operations and pay for the preparation and transport of seeds from all developing nations to the Arctic island of Svalbard, Norway. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is funding the initiative with a US$37.5 million grant.