In New Zealand, Ecosourcing has become a popular approach to seed sourcing for landscaping, restoration, and conservation projects. Riverside has been doing it for over 20years in different native revegetation and carbon offset projects but is it really that important?

Below we have listed the pros and cons of Ecosourcing seed for native planting projects:

Pros

Cons

Supports local biodiversity.

Can create micro cultures, leaving out important native species that could benefit the area.

Preserves local heritage, through preserving species that have long been naturally occurring in the local area.

May not be enough mature trees in the 'area' to collect seed from.

Plants are better adapted to their local climate, possibly meaning a higher survival rate.

Extra costs such as time for harvesting seed, fuel to site, collection tools, time to clean seed.

Generally a reduced carbon footprint, as the seed is sourced locally.

Have to wait for seed to become available/ ready. Instead of been able to purchase or keep seed from previous years.

There is no industry standard for 'Ecosourcing'. For example, how to define  a 'local area' or how to track where seed has come from, so a lot is based on trust. Are 'Eco sourced seeds' even 'Eco sourced'?

Eco sourcing can be an effective approach to promoting environmental sustainability and protecting local biodiversity in New Zealand. However, it is important to consider the potential challenges and costs associated with this approach when planning and implementing projects that include ecosourcing. We see a need for more research to be done, to clarify when and where Eco sourcing is necessary and when seed with little to no genetic difference to the planting area can be used. Also implementing an industry standard approach to Ecosourcing is needed to keep all companies and organisations accountable and accurate in their processes.

We hope that through this article you can decide if Ecosourcing is a good approach (or not) for your project.