Contact: Tom Noland
Canada yew is an evergreen shrub native to the forests of eastern Canada and northeastern United States. This plant’s needles, bark, twigs, and roots contain chemicals called taxanes, which have cancer-fighting properties. A taxane known as paclitaxel is the active ingredient in Taxol®, a valuable chemotherapy drug. Harvesting Canada yew for paclitaxel is helping to diversify the economy in northern Ontario and other parts of eastern Canada at a time when the traditional forest industry is struggling. Over the last decade, harvesters have removed millions of kilograms of wild yew biomass from Canada’s forests for use in producing paclitaxel. However, some of that harvest was non-sustainable (failed to ensure that these plants could be used in future harvests and continue to play a role in the ecosystem).
As a result, researchers are studying how best to harvest Canada yew in the wild to ensure a sustainable supply, including what time of year and how often it can be harvested, how much foliage can be removed at each harvest, and whether increasing the light levels by removing some trees (thinning) is helpful.
The results of this research will help MNR develop policies to guide the sustainable harvest of Canada yew. Researchers have also looked at the most effective ways of growing Canada yew in farm-like settings to provide an alternative to harvesting from the forest as well as another potential crop for northern Ontario farmers.
Want to read more?
Canada yew: Developing a value-added crop for northern Ontario
