It is a scenario that conjures up Noah and the Ark and the saving of two of every species of animal.
In this case, Noah is the Norwegian Government and the Ark is a huge underground vault in the Arctic and the goal is to house every known seed from edible plants in case of nuclear war, asteroid collision or climate change.
The Norwegian Government is paying the £2.5 million construction costs for the vault which will house over three million seeds.
The Global Crop Diversity Trust is responsible for collection of the seeds and they say the task is being undertaken so that in the event of a global catastrophe the seeds can be maintained in perpetuity.
The vault, likened to the secure US gold bullion store Fort Knox will be constructed 120m inside a mountain on Spitsbergen, one of four islands that make up Svalbard islands in Barents sea.
The location is ideal because the unmanned vault will be able to maintain the temperature of -18 degrees constantly without the use of electricity because of the permafrost in the rock of the mountain.
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