Ecosourcing

Ecosourcing is about growing native plants using local seeds. When growing locally, the plants produced are much more suited to the narrow local environment and its specific conditions than the same species introduced from elsewhere.

One benefit of ecosourcing is the ability to maintain the widest possible diversity within species, rather than enabling a more generic overlay to take hold within a plant species. Any unique characteristics that belong to local variants of plant life will be maintained when ecosourcing is practised and promoted.

For the garden, there is increased suitability and hardiness of your plants that have been ecosourced. Encourage your local nursery to ecosource by explaining the benefits to your garden and the region you are in. Be aware that even in the same city, areas may vary between hill suburbs, beach suburbs and river flat suburbs, so keep this in mind when ecosourcing your plants.

Projects that concentrate on restoring flora to a region benefit greatly from ecosourcing as a means for bringing a place back to the way it once was.

Taken from my original writing on Ethical Living.