Conserve Biodiversity
What is biodiversity?
Biodiversity is the variety of all living things, between ecosystems, plants, animals, and down to the genetics that differentiate individuals like ourselves. In nature, diverse habitats and conditions usually lead to a greater variety of wildlife, which are each supported by one another. Many insects, birds, and other animal species are intimately linked to the supporting plant life.
Native plants are essential to the ecological function, health, and long‑term sustainability of our environment. Their growth and survival are shaped by complex natural patterns, including environmental conditions, climate, and soil types, that together form the foundation of thriving ecosystems.
Species native to a particular seed zone are most well-adapted to the area's specific conditions. While a given species may be represented in many seed zones, the species composition and genotype vary among seed zones.
Why is it in crisis?
In 2019, the United Nations reported that the natural diversity is at risk more than ever before at a global level. More than 1,000,000 plant and animal species are under threat of extinction largely due to habitat loss from growing human populations and habitat loss.
The United Nations Decade on Restoration (2021-2030) represents a global call to action—to prevent, halt, and reverse ecosystem degradation. Restoration work across Ontario directly answers this urgent call, whether through meadow recovery, wetland rehabilitation, or woodland renewal.
As Canada's 2030 Nature Strategy states: "Nature is in crisis. Globally, one million species are at risk of extinction. In Canada, more than 800 species are at risk, and many more are in decline. Ecosystems are being degraded and destroyed at an alarming rate."
The assessment ranked the five direct drivers of change with the largest relative global impacts so far:
- Changes in land and sea use
- Direct exploitation of organisms
- Climate change
- Pollution
- Invasive alien species
The strategy further emphasizes that "The main drivers of biodiversity loss in Canada are habitat loss and degradation, overexploitation, invasive species, pollution and climate change. These threats are interconnected and often reinforce each other."
In Ontario, Canada:
Particularly in Southern Ontario, natural landscapes that are home to some of the highest concentrations of biodiversity have become increasingly sought after and developed for urban and agricultural needs.
Over thousands of years, many at‑risk species have adapted in remarkable ways to thrive in these habitats. Each depends on very specific conditions that are shaped by the landscape, climate, and the surrounding plant life that forms the foundation of their food web.
As land becomes increasingly privatized, creating large, connected protected areas is more challenging. In many cases, habitat restoration offers the best path forward, helping wildlife regain the safe, resilient spaces they need to thrive.
What can we do?
Biodiversity conservation is essential for maintaining healthy ecosystems across Ontario. Native plants and seeds form the foundation of habitat restoration, supporting local wildlife, improving soil health, and enhancing landscape resilience. By choosing native species adapted to Ontario's climate and soil conditions, conservation projects strengthen ecological networks, protect endangered species, and contribute to measurable environmental outcomes that extend far beyond our region.
Healthy, restored ecosystems provide cleaner water, stronger soil, and thriving wildlife populations that benefit both nature and people. When individuals and organizations support habitat restoration in Ontario, they participate in a worldwide movement to heal damaged landscapes and build resilience for future generations. Explore how your restoration efforts connect to global restoration goals and discover the science behind effective habitat recovery.
Recently, there has also been a groundswell of understanding that urgent action is needed to secure a more sustainable future. We'll all need to help be a part of nature-based solutions to help restore and protect nature for the good of the planet:
In urban areas, we can plant native to support biodiversity conservation. This also promotes a healthy urban environment particularly for low-income communities, improving access to green spaces; sustainable production and consumption and ecological connectivity within urban spaces, particularly with native species. In rural areas, it's important that we humans adopt good agricultural and agroecological practices. We will need to adopt multifunctional landscape planning to maintain species and ecological functions while supporting livelihoods.
Why are native plants important?
The best way to conserve biodiversity is to save habitats and ecosystems rather than trying to save a single species. No organism exists in isolation. If a species is at risk, then the habitat in which it lives is probably under threat too. Native plants improve surrounding natural environments by helping to:
- Create a food web that increases wildlife
- Cool local climate through transpiration
- Deflect weeds and invasive plants
- Conserve water
- Increase success of hardwood plantings
- Provide ecological services such as crop pollination, pest control, water filtering, and water conservation
- Prevent run off, pollution, and erosion
- Provide pleasing low-maintenance surroundings
With native plants, we recommend you start with asking your stock supplier include:
- Was the product grown locally, in-province?
- Is the product's seed source identifiable?
- Does the species belong in the intended planting ecosystem and region?
- Is the product suitable for the intended landscaping use or application?
- What seed zones are your plants sourced from?
St. Williams Ecology Centre is uniquely positioned as a leader in good practices for supplying Ontario source-identified native seeds and plants. We help to spearhead movements to engage more people and actively seeks partners in biodiversity conservation to support ecological restoration and conservation projects at scale.
We are an experienced team of ecologists, practitioners, and problem solvers who work to collect and scale native seed from local specimens. As part of our efforts to help conserve biodiversity, we can trace each each seed or plant in our production facility to a parent collection site to confirm the best-suited regions for planting. This is important as genetic diversity of native plants from different regions and climates alter dormancy, bloom times, and hardiness of a plant species and slight differences can affect a plant relationships with pollinators, reproduction, and ultimately their survival.