Nature feels the need… the need for seeds!

Ellen Jakubowski

Restoring healthy ecosystems across Canada will take millions, or even billions, of plants and trees. And not just any plants and trees; to keep ecosystems robust they need to be well adapted to local conditions and provide appropriate food and shelter to native wildlife. That means effective restoration depends on access to native species grown from seeds sourced from each restoration project’s ecological region, where they have been growing for millennia.

Pale purple coneflower seeds
Seeds of Pale Purple Coneflower hand-collected from a demonstration seed orchard in fall 2021. © Jesse Wyatt / SpruceLab Inc.

To help meet this demand, WWF-Canada introduced our seed orchard grant program grows native plants our seed orchard grant program in 2021. A seed orchard is a facility that grows native plants from known wild sources and harvests their seeds for distribution. We started by supporting grant recipients in Ontario who planted 35,500 native plants in 20 seed orchards, which yielded 72 kilograms (about the weight of a Newfoundland dog) of seeds from 225 species.

Building on this success, we expanded the program to four additional provinces in 2025, awarding grants to 13 First Nations, organizations and businesses. The funding supports establishing and expanding native plant seed orchards, as well as training seed collectors to ensure these operations succeed.

A group of five people harvesting seeds from plants in a seed garden with a field and trees in the background.
Harvesting from a native plant seed orchard © Ben Watt-Meyer

Most of these projects are unfolding over two years, and with more than a year left, grantees have already planted 9,692 plants, shrubs and trees across more than 5.5 hectares, employed 12 seed collectors and involved 1,852 other people in this work. We will report those results, including the amount of harvested seed, once they have completed their projects.

While seed orchards are supporting large-scale restoration, community efforts are flourishing as well. Habitats are taking root in backyards and parks, and on patios and balconies across eight provinces through our national re:grow program and southern Ontario-based In the Zone. Over the past year, these programs engaged 8,804 people in activities and events, including planting 86,412 native plants and trees and sharing seeds with 336 recipients.

Looking to join the movement? Even during winter, you can get started on next season’s garden. Learn more about making native seeds part of your planting plans this year.