Harnessing technology to improve revegetation outcomes

By 2030, it will be necessary to revegetate at least one billion hectares of land worldwide to reach the United Nation’s sustainable development goals. Canada has set an ambitious goal to conserve and revegetate 30% of the country’s land mass by 2030. As global leaders in sustainable resource development, the Canadian mining sector has a unique opportunity to contribute to these shared goals.

The goal of revegetation is to recreate a functional and diverse ecosystem that resembles the original pre-industrial conditions as closely as possible. Plant communities can be established through sowing seed, planting seedlings, or allowing the area to be recolonized slowly over time. Planting seedlings is often impractical for larger sites due to the higher cost of plant materials, labour, and shipping. Allowing areas to recolonize naturally can be prohibitively slow, is often not in-line with compliance requirements, can inadvertently give invasive species an opportunity to dominate open sites, and may simply not be successful in sites with a long history of industrial use. Sowing native seed, termed seed-based restoration, is often the only practical option for revegetation of larger sites. Seed-based restoration refers to the practice of sowing seed of varieties native or endemic to an area with the goal of recreating a functional and diverse ecosystem that resembles the original pre-industrial conditions.

Although nine out of 10 revegetation projects in Canada utilize nonnative grass seed mixtures, the benefits of employing native species are undeniable.

> Native plants have adapted to their local conditions over thousands of years and have the best chance of long-term survival, especially on challenging sites.

> Native plant species help to increase biodiversity as insects, small mammals, and birds all have a relationship with native plants. They rely on them for food and shelter, and many require the presence of one or a handful of native plants for survival.

> A site revegetated with natives can act as a seed bank assisting in the colonization and increasing the biodiversity of surrounding sites.

> Many native grasses have been shown to help ward off the spread of invasive plant species, which is especially relevant for degraded sites which are more susceptible to invasives.