Donnie McPhee

The National Tree Seed Centre in Fredericton is trying to add to its already substantial stockpile of seeds, with varieties that are in short supply, for restoration projects and to prepare for the possibility of poor growing seasons in the years ahead. The centre collects seeds for 724 tree and shrub species in 1,000 different eco-districts across the country, said co-ordinator Donnie McPhee. Initially, its focus was to help with research and recovery from things such as insect infestations and wildfires. But that mission has been evolving, said McPhee, since the federal government created a funding program to plant two billion trees. Calls have been coming in from people all over the country who are looking for certain species for their planting projects, many of which are in riparian zones or flood plains, he said. Red maple, elm, and silver maple have been in high demand but “that seed wasn’t available.”