Book excerpt: Inhaltsverzeichnis: Foreword / Professor Sir Peter Crane -- Preface -- Svalbard : journey to the top of the world -- Seeds and food -- Collecting and conserving -- Losses and threats -- Importance and use of crop diversity -- Svalbard Global Seed Vault -- Planning -- Construction -- Step inside -- Management policies and practices -- Administrative structures and financing -- The first seed withdrawal -- Looking forward -- Appendices -- Resources -- For the record : institutions and people -- Acknowledgments -- Photo and map credits -- About the author and the photographers.