Sudbury, Ont., seed producer helping expand national seed production through new partnership

A seed company in the Sudbury, Ont., community of Lively is helping with Canada's national regreening efforts by working to expand national seed production.

Northern Wildflowers produces flower, grass, shrub, and tree seeds for home gardening and agriculture purposes. 

The company is one of 13 recipients nationwide selected to receive funding from World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Canada's Seed Orchard Program. The initiative works to expand native seed production to increase seed supply for regreening and land restoration efforts.

"The best process to regreen a large site is with seed through something called seed-based restoration," said Jenny Fortier, founder and CEO of Northern Wildflowers. 

"So, you would apply seeds from the species that are native in that area. ... the seed is that key piece to being able to complete those projects."

Fortier said the partnership with WWF-Canada will provide funding to producers, including Northern Wildflowers, to hire and train more seed collector interns, and support growers in expanding their seed farming production.

"All of the other native seed growers in Canada that we talk with, everyone's expanding and growing as fast as they can to serve supply, but, you know, that's still within limitations," explained Fortier. 

"This partnership really helps us to do that just a little bit faster."

She added the partnership comes as Canada works to meet its "30 by 30" pledge of protecting 30 per cent of lands and waters by 2030. Fortier said the largest obstacle challenging land restoration efforts is a lack of Canadian grown native seeds in the market.

WWF-Canada said on its website that increasing the native plant supply through initiatives like seed orchards is "essential."

"Restoring healthy habitats isn't possible without these locally sourced seeds and we're delighted to work with this amazing group of grantees and partners to bring restoration projects to life," said Ryan Godfrey, community action specialist with WWF-Canada.

Since 2021, WWF-Canada said, the seed orchard program has supported grant recipients in Ontario in planting 35,500 native plants in 20 seed orchards and harvesting 72 kilograms of seed from 142 different native plant species.