FAO FORESTRY PAPER 118

Biotechnology in forest tree improvement
with special reference to developing countries

by
Russell Haines
FAO André Mayer Fellow

The designations employed and the presentation of material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.

M-31
ISBN 92-5-103490-7

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Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Rome © FAO 1994

FOREWORD

This review, prepared under an André Mayer Research Fellowship awarded by FAO in 1991, reports on the present state and future potential of biotechnologies in forest tree breeding, with special reference to their application in developing countries.

It is possible to increase greatly the environmental adaptation and productivity of forest plantations and of trees planted outside the forest in direct support to agriculture or for protection purposes, through selection and genetic improvement programmes. Much hope has been pinned on rapid improvement in adaptation and yield by the use of traditional, and new and advanced, technologies in genetics and forest tree breeding based on some documented success stories and optimistic projections.

The document confirms that new technologies offer possibilities which will greatly facilitate the work of the tree breeder in the future. It stresses, however, that the potential of the powerful new tools which biotechnology offers can only be realized if applied within existing, sound, tree improvement programmes and if based on basic, biological knowledge on the species concerned.

The document is aimed at tree breeders and professional foresters with some prior knowledge of the subject, although a brief Glossary of scientific terms used, is given at the end of the document. It is hoped that the information provided will help colleagues in FAO Member Nations to assess the actual and potential uses and limitations of biotechnologies in forest tree breeding, and that it will promote the sound application of the new and exciting tools that such technologies offer.

J.P. Lanly
Director
Forest Resources Division
Forestry Department

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The present document is the result of work carried out by FAO André Mayer Fellow, Russell Haines of the Queensland Forest Service (Australia).

The Association Forêts-Cellulose (AFOCEL), Nangis, France, acted as Host Institute for the 14 month study, and provided facilities as well as administrative, technical and scientific support to the Fellow throughout the study. The assistance of M. M. Armitano-Grivel, Mme E. Brouzheng Mme A. Lecointe, Mme C. Hubert and Dr J.-N. Ruaud, is especially acknowledged.

Thanks also go to the Queensland Forest Service (QFS) for releasing the Fellow for the time of the study, and for financial and technical support in its course. In particular, thanks are due to Dr. D.G. Nikles and Steven Walker of the QFS.

The Fellowship included wide-ranging travel in Europe and in North and South America. Institutes in Asia and Australia provided inputs during travel carried out by the Fellow prior to, and immediately following, the FAO Fellowship. Numerous institutes and individuals in all regions of the world provided ideas and information, and assisted in the development of the study through discussions and written inputs. Our thanks go to all of these friends and colleagues who are too numerous to list, with special reference to J.Chaparro, G.Dale, R.Griffin, P.Kanowski, D.G. Nikles, C.Palmberg-Lerche, A.Simons, O. Souvannavong, S.Strauss and, last but not least, Jean and Sally Paquet.

The study was coordinated by Ms. C. Palmberg-Lerche, Chief Forest Resources Development Branch, Forest Resources Division of FAO's Forestry Department in Rome, with the assistance of Mr. O. Souvannavong and Ms. A. Thomsen of the same Division. Colleagues in FAO's Agriculture Department, and more specifically in its Plant Production and Protection Division and in its Research and Technology Development Division, also provided technical support to the study, under the over-all administrative guidance of the Fellowships Group of the Agricultural Operations Division.

Hyperlinks to non-FAO Internet sites do not imply any official endorsement of or responsibility for the opinions, ideas, data or products presented at these locations, or guarantee the validity of the information provided. The sole purpose of links to non-FAO sites is to indicate further information available on related topics.

This electronic document has been scanned using optical character recognition (OCR) software. FAO declines all responsibility for any discrepancies that may exist between the present document and its original printed version.

FOREWORD

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

TABLE OF CONTENTS