In situ and Ex situ Conservation of Commercial Tropical Trees - ITTO

172IntroductionThe forest area in Thailand has diminished quite rapidly between 1960 and1989- from 54% to 27.9% of its total area - mainly caused by population pressureand compounded by wide spread log-poaching activities. Through the loss offorest area, natural habitats of many valuable and economic indigenous specieshave been destroyed resulting in decreased forest genetic resources in ourcountry. This alarming situation prompted the Thai government to declare acomplete ban on logging in the natural forest in 1989, as an initial effort aimedat complete protection of the remaining natural forest system.In 1999, the government of Thailand established in situ conservationof forest resources in the country by announcing 86,611.8 sq. km or 16.9% ofthe country’s forested area as protected areas, followed by initiation of the “Insitu conservation of forest genetic resources in Thailand” project. The researchactivities aim to continually collect comprehensive data on dynamic forestecological systems, including biodiversity, in 15 forest-reserve areas throughoutthe country. The study of genetic information such as gene markers of thespecies is going to be one of the main research focuses in the near future.The “Ex situ conservation of forest genetic resources in Thailand”project was initiated in the following year, i.e. 2000. It is hoped that both in situand ex situ conservation of forest genetic resources in Thailand will help provideuseful and valuable forest genetic resources for the future.This paper describes some important information on the in situ and exsitu conservation of D. alatus Roxb. in Thailand. It is one of the economictree species that has historical values associated with the history of our country.It is hoped that the information presented here, although not yet completed, willbe a useful contribution to the efforts toward in situ and ex situ conservationof forest genetic resources in this region.Ex situ conservation of D. alatus in ThailandAn alternative approach to conserving genetic resource of D. alatus, where insitu gene conservation is not possible, is ex situ conservation. Although theplanted trees may possess a narrower genetic base when compared to those innatural habitats, it is still a valuable tool when the natural stands are in a highriskarea. Other considerations necessary to implement ex situ gene conservationprograms may include the availability of propagation techniques and thesilvicultural aspects of D. alatus when plantations are established in designatedareas. Fortunately, besides using seeds as reproductive materials for seedlingproduction, many studies on vegetative propagation of D. alatus have been