Forest and landscape restoration (FLR) can support societies to mitigate climate change and adapt to its impacts. Restored landscapes will only be able to fulfil societal benefits if these systems have built-in capacity to adapt to changing environments. To this end, restoration activities must consider the importance of forest genetic resources (FGR) and establish ecosystems consisting of viable and genetically diverse populations resilient in present and future environmental conditions. Several management practices and factors have to be taken into account to maximize FGR and include genetic diversity in planting material (e.g. matching of seed origin to sites, local adaptation, seed collection process and nursery management).

Effective seed supply systems play a central role in ensuring FGR integration. Tree seed supply systems have evolved differently across countries, depending on the prevailing objectives for tree planting, government roles, private sector initiatives and other factors. With country-wide commitments to FLR requiring tens to hundreds of millions of new tree seedlings, there is an urgent need to identifying what seed supply systems are currently in place and whether they can meet the proposed goals. The Restoration Initiative (TRI) is one such effort to support countries to overcome barriers to restoration. Over the last year, the Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) has been working with the Forest and Landscape Restoration Mechanism (FLRM) team of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to support TRI countries to better integrate FGR into their FLR planning and implementation.

In a series of workshops, webinars and digital discussion forums, a combination of plenary presentations have been offered, followed by breakout groups enabling TRI countries to seek more targeted advice and training related to their local context. Participants have been introduced and guided through a number of foundational topics on the integration of FGR into FLR:

• management practices that lead to low genetic diversity in seed sources and planting material;
• if genetic diversity is not adequately considered, how this can lead to failure in restoration;
• the role of the seed collection process and seed sources in determining genetic diversity and the importance of matching seed sources to sites, and local adaptation;
• when the collection of local seeds is important and when it might not be the best option for success;
• how the nursery can influence patterns of genetic diversity; and
• how to identify current types of seed supply systems in place in countries of interest and the improvements needed to scale them up to meet multiple social and environmental FLR objectives.

TRI countries are receiving training on the knowledge and awareness of why FGR is so important to resilient restoration and they are learning about a range of effective decision-support tools. Online discussions and webinars, offered via different platforms, provide an opportunity to reach and share experiences with representatives of different nations undertaking FLR projects and activities. A range of practical tools and approaches are available for the planning and implementation of seed collection and documentation, and the matching of species to sites in order to deliver resilient FLR at scale. This includes a demonstration of available databases on native species distribution and tools to support restoration planning, such as the Diversity for Restoration tool, as well as good practices for documenting and sharing information about seed sources and seed collection, and lessons learned during implementation.

For participants to get more targeted advice and training on their local context, two webinars, one in English and one in French, were organized. They were attended by approximately 60 people in total from the following countries: Sao Tome and Principe, the Philippines, Pakistan, the Niger, Morocco, Lebanon, Fiji, Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic and Burkina Faso.

For more information contact: [email protected]

Gabriela Wiederkehr and Christopher Kettle (Alliance Bioversity-CIAT)