Francis Allard, B.MechEng
Willows can do more than sway—they can clean water, capture carbon, and restore entire landscapes. Under Francis’ leadership, Ramo has become North America’s largest willow nursery, planting over 30 million fast-growing trees across 800 hectares in Ontario and Northern Quebec, with over $20 million invested to scale this circular economy vision. These plantations generate 8,000 tonnes of organic matter annually, used to rehabilitate degraded mining sites, and capture ~13,800 tonnes of CO₂, transforming barren landscapes into biodiverse ecosystems. Ramo’s latest innovation, Evaplant, transforms landfill cells into living treatment systems that evapotranspire wastewater instead of discharging it. Six operational sites have already prevented more than 44 million liters of wastewater from entering fragile ecosystems. Francis is proving willows can turn marginal land into hubs of carbon, biomass, and biodiversity.
