The Seed Vault is a facility designed to store seeds from around the world to prevent the extinction of global plant species in the face of major disasters such as climate change, environmental pollution, natural disasters, and human-made catastrophes.
There are currently two seed vaults worldwide. The first established, the Svalbard Global Seed Vault (SGSV) in Norway, primarily stores seeds of crops, while the Baekdudaegan Global Seed Vault (BGSV) in the Republic of Korea stores seeds of wild plants.
BGSV stores seeds deposited by organizations worldwide and has the capacity to store approximately 2 million accessions of seeds. Upon request of the depositor, plant seeds, especially those of wild plants, are stored in sealed containers (i.e., Black Box System). Deposited seeds are stored and managed free of charge. The ownership of the seeds belongs to the depositor and BGSV cannot open sealed seed storage containers.
As of November 2025, BGSV stores 288,267 seed accessions collected from 6,149 plant species. BGSV’s goal is to safely store over 1 million accessions of 60,000 wild plant species by 2050, which accounts for 30% of the approximately 200,000 wild plant species worldwide (Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Plants of the World Online, 2023).

The natural ecosystem is intricately interconnected. Wild plants are fundamental elements in terrestrial ecosystems, and the extinction of wild plants leads to an imbalance in the ecosystem. Therefore, the conservation of wild plants is crucial for maintaining a healthy global ecosystem. Additionally, wild plants are essential resources for medicine, food, and various other life necessities, contributing to the survival and prosperity of humanity.

Meanwhile, the Korea Forest Service is expanding the establishment of the National Arboretums to conserve the diversity of forest plant species by region and vegetation zones. The Korea Arboreta and Gardens Institute (KoAGI) was founded in 2017 to manage and operate these National Arboretums. In 2018, KoAGI established BGSV to securely preserve plant seeds, particularly those of wild plants distributed worldwide. Plant seeds can be stored for long periods if maintained under the right conditions, making seed preservation one of the most effective methods for conserving plant genetic resources. This is why we preserve seeds.