With animal populations diminishing and levels of threatened species constantly increasing there is a growing need for a back up. Similar to Svalbard Global Seed Vault and the Millennium Seed Bank, the proposal works in conjunction with the Frozen Ark consortium to securely store frozen samples of threatened species. The samples are used to keep a store of the original sequence and for research.

 

The purpose is to maintain the biodiversity of engendered species or to, when the technology develops and ethical issues are resolved, to clone and reintroduce extinct species back into the environment. The proposal is set into the hill below the Salisbury Crag, Holyrood Park, Edinburgh, using the igneous protrusion of dolerite to securely store the sample vault.