Southern Alberta Native Seed Collaborative

December 1, 2025

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• Grasslands
• WLA Archive

Once native prairie is lost, it requires extensive time, effort and cost to recover.

By Ruiping Luo

Read the PDF version here.

 

Alberta has lost large areas of native habitat. We have ripped out vegetation, overturned soils and fractured ecosystems with roads and buildings. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the prairies; an estimated 75 to 90 percent of the province’s native prairie has been lost, and prairie species have suffered some of the most severe declines of any group. To revitalize our prairies and recover these species, it is essential to not only protect the native habitat that remains, but also to recover and reclaim land that was converted for other use.

This is not an easy task. Native prairie soils can take decades or centuries to establish, and plowing or excavating disrupts the structure and biological communities, reducing its productivity and suitability for native species. Re-established native plants also need to compete with invasive plants, including some tame forages and crops. Drought and other environmental factors are further stressors to prairie soil. Once native prairie is lost, it requires extensive time, effort and cost to recover.

Cost is often a barrier to native prairie restoration, particularly the cost and quality of seed. Unlike commercial seed, which has been bred for easy, machine-compatible harvest and seeding, native prairie species require specific knowledge and techniques. Native prairie species can be harder or impossible to cultivate, and some species need to be harvested by hand, so commercial-scale sale of native prairie seed is not always profitable. This is even harder when including a diversity of species.

The Southern Alberta Native Seed Collaborative (SANSC) is working to address some of these concerns. The group, formed in 2018, consists of government and non-government organizations, consultants, Indigenous land managers, seed growers, wild seed harvesters, and seed industry representatives. Its work spans a large and diverse range in Alberta’s grasslands. Initially a space for discussion, it is now working to facilitate the growth of a sustainable, high-quality native seed industry.

One of SANSC’s aims is to improve access to locally sourced seed. Local plants and seeds are better adapted to the climate and soil of a region, and have a higher chance of successfully establishing. Locally adapted plants also better complement and fulfill the needs of local wildlife and other vegetation. Yet, most of the seed available on the broader market is not adapted for southern Alberta, and some contain species considered invasive to this region.

This suggests a strong need for local production, though constructing a local market can be difficult: demand fluctuates, seed production and collection can be slow, time-consuming and varies from year to year, and there is often a mismatch between supply and demand. Cultivating or harvesting from wild plants both require species-dependent techniques, and the timing for harvest and seeding does not usually overlap, so advance planning is needed. Additionally, these species rarely qualify for crop insurance, so growth and sale of native seed can be risky. The industry would benefit from sharing knowledge.

Through SANSC, information on expected demand can be shared, and seed availability is advertised. Knowledge about producing high-quality seed and methods for successful planting can be exchanged.

There remain several barriers to a strong native seed market, including lack of access to native habitats for harvesting, a need for policy that requires using local native species, and a need for more communication on the importance of native prairie. But there is also strong market potential, as the value of restoring native prairie becomes increasingly clear. SANSC brings together groups to share knowledge, improve efficiency and discuss how to transform the native seed market.

SANSC helps to fill a role that is sorely needed as remediation incorporates more local and ecologically-appropriate species. In restoring our damaged grasslands, reliable, diverse and high quality seed will be vital. SANSC acts as a network, assembling groups focused on grassland restoration, improving access to high-quality seeds and supporting revitalization of the prairie ecosystem.