It Starts with a Seed: Growing Capacity for Regional Native Plant Materials through the Southwest Seed Partnership
Ashlee Wolf1, Maria Mullins1, Melanie Gisler1
1Institute for Applied Ecology, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA; ashleewolf@appliedeco.org
The Southwest Seed Partnership (SWSP) arose in October 2015 to establish a network for native, genetically appropriate seeds while advocating for a new industry standard. Parallel to the National Seed Strategy, the vision of this collaborative effort is to assess and prioritize plant populations, to collect and track wild seed, and to collaborate and coordinate with farmers and conservationists in order to increase the commercial availability of genetically diverse, locally sourced seed for restoration, rehabilitation, and reclamation projects in the Southwest. The SWSP works to support the native seed industry by consolidating demand and acting as a liaison between consumers and seed producers. In this presentation, we focus on two case studies exemplifying the native plant materials track at different scales-from wild-sourced seed to propogation in nurseries or agricultural fields, and finally to research and eventual restoration sites. Discussion will emphasize lessons learned and strategies for building capacity of regional native plant material programs.