Russia's Pavlovsk Seed Vault Threatened by Real Estate Developers

It's hard to imagine a more agriculturally vibrant place than Russia's Pavlovsk Experiment Station near St. Petersburg. The "station," part of the N.I. Vavilov Research Institute of Plant Industry, really isn't a laboratory at all — it's a global seed vault holding tens of thousands of living, growing plants. As USA Today recently reported, "there are apples from 35 countries, 1,000 varieties of strawberries from 40 countries, black currants from 30 countries, plums from 12 countries and multiple other crops." It's the Willy Wonka's chocolate factory of crops.

But Pavlovsk's treasure trove of food-producing plants is under serious attack. Last year, the Russian Ministry of Economic Development transferred the rights to two of Vavilov Research Institute's tracts of land to the Russian Federal Fund of Residential Real Estate. A Russian court will likely rule on Wednesday whether developers can move forward with development plans for the land. If real estate developers succeed, all those thousands of varieties of crops — 90 percent of which are not found anywhere else in the world — will be bulldozed to make way for luxury homes. Genetically diverse and incredibly rare varieties of crops would fall victim to the ubiquitous McMansion, a tragedy of epic proportions.

Destruction of the Pavlovsk seed vault is more than just another example of paving paradise for a parking lot. Bulldozing the vault's tens of thousands of plant varieties threatens global food security. Seed banks like Pavlovsk provide breeders with the genetic stocks to create new varieties of plants that can adapt to certain diseases, climatic changes, and environmental conditions. Experts expect seed vaults to play an especially important role in maintaining food production as environmental changes occur as a result of global warming. Destroying Pavlovsk's tens of thousands of unique varieties of plants basically renders these crops extinct, removing them from the genetic pool plant breeders can use.

If that's not enough to convince you that Pavlovsk needs saving, here's a bit of history that puts the vault's importance into perspective: During the 900-day siege of Leningrad during World War II, 12 scientists starved to death rather than eat the seeds and plants contained in Pavlovsk. You can bet those researchers are rolling over in their graves knowing that the plant varieties they literally gave their lives for may be destroyed for the sake of a few new homes.

What's worse, real estate developers are using a totally lame-o excuse to support their cause, and according to several news outlets, it looks like the Russian court is buying it. Developers argue that because Pavlovsk's worth is described as "priceless," it has no monetary value assigned to it and is therefore worthless. They also said that the plant collection was never officially registered, meaning that officially, it doesn't exist. Sorry, developers, but the tens of thousands of plants sprouting forth from the ground prove that the Pavlovsk Experiment Station is very real. And as for its value — ensuring food security is worth, oh, about a million bajillion dollars more than a handful of luxury homes.

The Russian court is expected to make its decision on Pavlovsk on August 11th. If the court rules in favor of the Russian Federal Fund of Residential Real Estate, the seed vault's thousands of plant varieties could be wiped out in as little as three-to-four months. Take action now, and sign this petition asking President Dmitry Medvedev to protect Pavlovsk and the future of food as we know it.

Photo credit: Noel Zia Lee via Flickr