Regrowth strategy: To adapt to a changing climate, restoring nature is critical. But do we have the seeds we need?
A quarter of Canada’s trees are at risk, and upwards of a million species around the world face extinction in the decades to come. Restoring nature is essential to survival — it can make communities more resilient to climate change, it can regrow areas destroyed by increasingly intense wildfires and it can help reduce atmospheric carbon. But repairing ecosystems is not as simple as planting seeds. In this special episode, experts weigh in on restoration efforts, the global seed storage and why there’s such a thing as planting too many trees. Featured in this episode: Martina Albert is a technician with the National Tree Seed Centre, based in Fredericton, N. B. The NTSC’s library holds more than 13,000 seed collections, with the purpose of protecting them from invasive pests, disease and climate change. Albert works on the Centre’s Indigenous Seed Collection Program, working with First Nations communities to collect and preserve tree seeds for generations to come. Blaine Pearson is the CEO of Seedark, a climate tech venture that is working to modernize the global supply chain of seeds. Its app, Squirrel, connects growers and reforestation experts with seed collectors, while digitally tracking where seeds are coming from. Pearson has more than 20 years of entrepreneurial experience, focusing on harmonizing the application of technology with environmental protection, and is currently part of the RBC Women in Cleantech Accelerator. Faisal Moola is an associate professor in the department of geography, environment and geomatics at the University of Guelph. Moola oversees research on the ecology and ethnoecology of cultural keystone species with Indigenous Peoples here in Canada and around the world. Jim Robb is the general manager of the Friends of the Rouge Watershed. The organization partners with communities and volunteers to protect and restore ecosystems, with a focus on Rouge National Urban Park. Robb helps organize nature walks, community planting events and educational programming to inspire the next generation of ecological stewards. D’Amour Walker is the assistant project coordinator at Friends of the Rouge Watershed, where she ensures trees, shrubs and plants are in healthy condition as part of the reforestation and ecosystem restoration efforts. Further reading: Saving nature: WWF study highlights the best places for ecological restoration in CanadaWanted: tree seeds. National seed centre in Fredericton collecting samplesIndigenous Seed Collection Program begins cross-country journey in FrederictonWe need native seeds in order to respond to climate change, but there aren’t enoughWhy Indigenous peoples are raising the alarm on carbon trading at UN climate summitGrasslands store tons of carbon — and there’s a movement to protect themBiodiversity or bust? Here’s what happened at COP16What you need to know about nature-based solutions to climate changeSubscribe to Solve for X: Innovations to Change the World here.
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