-A series of posters and brochures to explain the certification program.
-Extension notes to explain in detail the importance of seed source to the long-term success of planting efforts.
-A printed directory and a Web-based registry to help consumers find certified nursery stock.
Tree planting in general needs help, and the wrong seed source is only one of the many reasons that your planting project may not be successful. For this reason we will promote our certification program within the context of successful tree planting. We have recently participated in a Landowner Stewardship Survey to help us understand what motivates rural landowners to plant trees (See the article on this survey in this edition of the S&W Report). We are also working on a Tree Planting Case Book and Guide, in which we will profile actual planting efforts to help you understand how to ensure success and avoid problems.
2. Certify the reforestation industry and its products.
Certified seed and stock will be labeled according to the location of the seed collection site, starting with the seed collector. The identity of the source will be tracked throughout the chain of custody until it is presented, as a labeled, certified product to you the consumer. The seed source may be from a single parent tree or preferably from a large healthy stand of trees. But if seed is bulked from many locations, the label on the resulting seedlings can only indicate the greater area. For example if a nursery bulked its seed from many counties across southern Ontario, they can only certify and market that crop as ?southern Ontario,? not as one from a specific county that may have been a source for the seed. However, we will be encouraging collectors and growers to bulk only by tree seed zones, if not by a more refined level such as by county, to allow consumers a real choice.
Back to top
3. Certification of the person and the produce.
We began to implement the certification program this late summer and fall, starting with seed collectors and a Certified Seed Collector Course. Collectors from across southern Ontario participated in a two-day course and were educated about why seed source is important and about the practices and documentation necessary to certify seedlots. They are now eligible to register their seed collections for certification, which requires informing the FGCA of the location of the collection site and the amount of the seed collected. They are then subject to a possible field audit - of the product and/or the collection site. That seedlot will then be labeled and certified as being from the location specified.
The next step is to work with seed processors and nurseries - again to educate them about why seed source is important and to train them in the documentation necessary to register their seed or stock lots. Facilities will be subject to an initial inspection and then possible spot audits, to ensure they have the systems and capacity to keep seedlots separate, and to maintain seedlot identity through all operations. Certified stock must originate from a certified seedlot. Grandfathering of seed and stock in the system will be considered if seed source documentation and seed and stock handling practices can be reviewed to determine eligibility.
So, what can you do to ensure your tree planting is successful?
1.Plan your tree planting efforts at least a year in advance - preferably two years.
2.Get advice from experts including OMNR, conservation authorities, forest consultants. They can help you:
- know your site and determine what species will not only survive but thrive.
- find out what stock type and size will be best suited to your site.
3.Contact nurseries to determine if they will have a suitable source of the species you want when you want it.
4.Ask if it.s an FGCA certified source.
5.Then and only then ask about price.
It's your land, its your money, it's your risk. What risks are you willing or can you afford to undertake? If you don't use seed that is adapted to the environment of the planting site, all your efforts and expenses could be wasted.
Remember - "The most expensive planting is a failed planting"
