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

193Practical Experience with Ex situ Conservation ofTropical PinesIDA THEILADE 1 , SØREN HALD 1 , ALVIN YANCHUK 2 ,CHRISTIAN PILEGAARD HANSEN 3 AND LARS GRAUDAL 11Danida Forest Seed Centre, Krogerupvej 21, DK-3050 Humlebæk, Denmark. Email:dfsc@sns.dk2Senior Scientist, Research Branch, British Columbia Ministry of Forestry, Victoria, Canada.This article was written while Alvin Yanchuck was at FAO as consultant in the ForestResources Division under the partnership agreement with Research and Academicinstitutions.3Indonesia Forest Seed Project. P.O Box 6919 Bandung 40135, IndonesiaAbstract. Ex situ conservation stands of P. caribaea, P. oocarpa and P. tecunumanii in 8 countrieswere assessed in the field in 1996-1999 by national institutions in cooperation with FAO andDFSC. Most stands were established within the FAO/UNEP project on forest genetic resourcesin 1975-85. Of 135 stands established 20 were lost. The remaining stands generally showedsatisfactory survival rate and growth. The average stand size was well above the 500 individualsrecommended for ex situ populations. However, a number of factors restricted the conservationvalue of the stands. Many stands were poorly isolated from contaminating pollen sources.Flowering and cone production was poor or non-existent and so far no seed has been harvestedon a commercial scale. The countries involved experienced little benefits from maintaining thestands and at present it is doubtful whether the necessary regeneration will take place.Based on our results, it is recommended that ex situ conservation as a conservation strategy fortropical trees be linked to domestication and use, preferably as part of active breeding and/orresearch programs, to ensure long-term management and regeneration. Ex situ conservation oftrees is expensive and, on a long term, only applicable to a number of commercially importantspecies. It may be the “last option” for certain important or unique provenances as an integratedsupplement to in situ programmes. However, knowledge is wanting on practical management,regeneration and long-term stability of ex situ stands. So far, efforts have been restricted topioneer species, which are relatively easy to propagate and grow. Establishment and managementof ex situ conservation stands of climax species will often require more focus on reproductiveecology, seed collection and handling, use of nurse species and mixture of species in general.IntroductionEx situ conservation is often cited as a useful complement to in situ conservationof important forest genetic resources (FAO 1993, IPGRI 2000). The presentstudy analysed ex situ conservation stands of valuable provenances of CentralAmerican pines, established under the framework of a FAO/UNEP project onconservation of forest genetic resources. The study showed that it was possibleto establish an international network of conservation stands and that all