Fuad Gaši Takes Helm of Svalbard Seed Vault, Emphasizes Global Crop Diversity

In June 2026, Fuad Gaši, a 46-year-old professor of genetics and plant breeding, assumed coordination of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault after a two-decade career that included founding Bosnia and Herzegovina’s first gene bank. He described the vault as a “Noah’s Ark of Seeds,” housing more than 1.4 million samples from over 100 countries and serving as a safety net for national gene banks. Gaši stressed that preserving crop biodiversity is essential for developing resilient varieties amid climate change and disease threats.

The vault operates under a partnership between the Norwegian Ministry of Agriculture and Food, the Global Crop Diversity Trust, and NordGen, and its entrance remains 130 meters above sea level for long-term security. He also noted that the vault’s low-maintenance model stores seeds at -18 °C, leaving viability testing to the originating banks.