NEW PUBLICATION ON PRACTICAL EXPERIENCES WITH EX SITU CONSERVATION OF TROPICAL PINES⁶⁰

Danida Forest Seed Centre (DFSC) and FAO together with national partners in the concerned countries have published "Practical experience with establishment and management of ex situ conservation stands of tropical pines. DFSC Results and Documentation No.1. RD1.⁶¹"

Ex situ conservation stands of Pinus caribaea, P. oocarpa and P. tecunumanii were established within the framework of an FAO/UNEP project on forest genetic resources, which was operational between 1975 and 1985. Stands in eight countries, Australia, Brazil, Côte d'Ivoire, India, Kenya, Tanzania, Thailand and Zambia, were assessed in the field in 1996-1999 by national institutions in cooperation with FAO and DFSC.

Some findings of general interest for those countries and institutions planning to establish ex situ conservation stands are listed below:

• There is a need for well-informed and timely management interventions, which should be planned to be carried out throughout the lifetime of the stand, from establishment to the end of the rotation.
• Based on the above field evaluation, it was recommended that ex situ conservation be closely linked to domestication and sustainable resource use, preferably as part of a stated and active breeding and/or research programme; this will facilitate long-term management and regeneration of the conservation stands.
• The study showed that viable ex situ conservation to a large extent depends on - or should be driven by - interest in utilising the species and provenances in question in forest plantation programmes. A problem that may continue to hamper sustainability of ex situ conservation efforts is the uncertainty of species priorities in planting programmes. This will influence the demand for seed and other reproductive materials from the conservation stands which are meant to finance - fully or in part - for the costs of management, protection and regeneration of the ex situ stands. If the conservation stands do not have a tangible value for present-day activities, management costs will likely be seen as an expense without corresponding benefits to national or local forestry authorities. Consequently, in the absence of external funding, it is likely that these conservation stands will not be adequately managed and that they may be lost.

Efforts have so far focused on pioneer tree species which are relatively easy to propagate and grow in plantations. Establishment and management of ex situ conservation stands of climax species will often require added research on reproductive ecology, seed collection and handling, use of nurse species and mixture of species in general, which may not be available at the present time. This is a challenge which should be addressed in the coming years.

⁶⁰ Compilation and editing: Christian P. Hansen, Ida Theilade and Søren Hald, Danida Forest Seed Centre, Humlebaek, Denmark; and Forest Resources Development Service, FAO, Rome
⁶¹ Can be requested free of charge from DFSC, Krogerupvej 21, DK-3050 Humlebaek, Denmark. Email: [email protected]. Also available on DFSC's website at: http://www.dfsc.dk/index.htm