This course explores how to plan seed and seedling supply for forest and landscape restoration. This includes the importance of considering seed and seedling origin and genetic quality, the reproductive and supply chain bottlenecks that reduce genetic diversity or adaptive capacity, and approaches, tools and institutional frameworks that can help ensure that quality seed and seedlings are available for diverse restoration objectives.

This module describes the nature of genetic resources for food and agriculture, with special focus on forest genetic resources. As mentioned in the Millenium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA), forests are home to the vast majority of the Earth’s terrestrial biodiversity (MEA, 2005), and trees are the keystone species of forest ecosystems. Forest trees and other woody plant species provide wood, fibre, fuel and many non-wood forest products. They also contribute to a broad range of ecosystem services and fulfil environmental functions. Globally, around 2 400 species of trees, shrubs, palms and bamboo are actively managed for products and/or services, and approximately 700 tree species are subject to tree improvement programmes (FAO, 2014b).

The Forest Reproductive Material (FRM) Module is intended for people planning reforestation, afforestation and forest restoration initiatives, policymakers developing strategies for the conservation of forest reproductive material, and others interested in the use and conservation of high-quality FRM and the benefits of such use and conservation.

The module highlights key issues in the management of FRM and provides links to relevant tools and cases.

This module is intended for managers of forests and conservation areas as well as for silviculturists, restoration ecologists and others involved in conserving and managing tree-based resources or who work with forest planting materials. The module provides information on the conservation and management of forest genetic resources and gives links to other useful materials.