The native plant industry in Alberta has been in existence for approximately thirty years. Over time, interest in the use of native plants has been growing steadily. Many consumer magazines and newspaper articles have coined the native plant industry as a “fledgling market” or a “burgeoning industry”.
Publicly available production information and financial figures on native seed sales or even reclamation seed sales do not exist in western Canada. The objective of this project was to conduct a comprehensive market assessment of the native plant industry in order to provide the following information:
• seed sources,
• current market demand and future production of native plant materials,
• geographical areas where the plant materials are used,
• market value of the industry,
• original genetic source of native plant materials., and.
• obstacles affecting the industry.
The information presented in this report is based on results of a survey questionnaire and telephone interviews.
Two hundred and forty three survey questionnaires were mailed to a list of producers and suppliers of native plant materials as identified by the native plant councils of Alberta, British Columbia and Saskatchewan. There was a forty five percent response rate. Responses by province were: Alberta (39%), British Columbia (29%), Saskatchewan (15%), Manitoba (11%) and other provinces and the United States (6%).
Results of the survey indicate that 6% of the respondents have been producing native plant materials for more than 25 years. The industry has been growing steadily with 36% of the respondents producing native plants in the last 10 to 25 years followed by another 58% joining the industry in the last decade. About half of the respondents spent less than 20% of their time in the native plant business and only 23% of the respondents work in the native plant industry on a full-time basis. Most commonly reported income range in 1998 was $25,000 or less and the total gross income (n=38) during that year was $7.03 million. There is no significant relationship between amount of time spent in the native plant business, years producing native plant materials and gross revenue. In reality the native plant industry is worth more than $7.03 million since many producers did not provide revenue information. Revenue distribution for Alberta, Western Canada and the Great Plains are $1.33 million, $4.85 million and $5.08 million respectively.
Over 250 species of various plants were collected from native landscapes. The amount of material collected for a particular species ranged from 10 g to 50 kg of seeds and from 10 plants to 10,000 plants. In 1998, 726 kg of seeds and 14,481 plants were collected from native landscapes.
In 1999, the amount of seed collected went down by 65% and the number of plants collected increased by over 80%. A number of respondents indicated that they collected seeds and plants from native prairies but did not indicate the amount of plant material collected. Over 50% of the collecting activity occurred in the Great Plains ecoregion.
Thirty two percent of the seed source originates from Alberta, 24% from British Columbia, 12% from Saskatchewan, 10% from Manitoba, 19% from the United States and about 3% from other places. When producers were asked which ecoregions they source their native plant materials from, the majority of them (37%) checked the Great Plains. When the same question was asked about the natural region, 63% of the respondents obtained their plant materials within the Grassland, Parkland and Foothills natural region.
Approximately 57 species of grasses, 14 wetland species, 103 forbs species and 73 species of woody plants were produced in 1998 and 1999. In 1998, 299,450 kg of grass seeds and 13,930 plants were produced. Seed production increased up to 387,425 kg while the number of plants produced decreased to 9,950 in 1999. Forb production was 22,137 plants in 1998 and increased to 42,678 in 1999. Similarly, production of wetland plants went up by 33% to 2,700 plants and production of woody plants decreased by 13% to 717,020 plants. In total, the amount of native seed produced went up by 23% to 394,160 kg and the number of plants went down by 11% to 772, 348 plants.
Most of the plant materials sold were used in the Grassland region (26%), followed by Parklands and Foothills with 12% and 8% respectively. The producers indicated that 46% of plant material was sold in the Great Plains. British Columbia and Alberta accounted for 56% of the native plant materials used. Nineteen percent of the plant materials were used in Saskatchewan and Manitoba. About 9% of plant materials were sold to Minnesota, North Dakota, Washington and Oregon.
Producers indicate that they sold native plant materials to various industries. These included agriculture (9%), horticulture (19%), landscaping (18%), wildlife habitat mitigation (15%), wetland restoration (9%), medicinal uses (1%), and reclamation (29%). The reclamation sector was further divided into oil & gas (11%), sand & gravel (5%), railways & roadways (7%), and mines (6%).
Of the users surveyed (n=22), 36% indicated they had been using native species in their operation for 10 to 25 years. Among the reasons for using native plants, 21% of the respondents indicated that native plants performed better than introduced species, 24% indicated changing regulations and another 24% said to increase biodiversity. Other reasons included, aesthetic value, conservation of the natural ecosystem or less invasive when compared to forage species.
Thirty seven percent of respondents indicated they do not use native species for a number of reasons, including cost of native seed, lack of available of species, lack of quality, lack of information and have not been requested by government regulatory agencies.
Most of the plant material purchased was used in the Great Plains (55%). The majority of respondents showed no preference for type of plant material, whether a cultivar, ecovar or wild harvested seeds.
Sixty nine percent of the respondents were aware of the original genetic source of materials purchased. Thirty one percent did not have any information of the original genetic source of their plant material. Three quarters of the respondents received information such as seed germination,
purity, and source of seed from the producer.
Among the users of native plants, the horticulture industry represents 20%, landscaping 17%, wildlife habitat mitigation 9%, wetland restoration 9%, medicinal 6%, landfills 3%, agriculture 6%, prairie restoration 6% and reclamation 24%. The reclamation is further divided into oil & gas (14%), sand & gravel (2%), railways & roadways (2%), and mines (6%).