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

290Average annual precipitation is 2900 mm with a rainy season from January toApril and October to December, and a dry season from May to September.Daily temperature average is 29 –30 o C, and average humidity is 70%.MHP started the plantation project in early 1990 and through the endof the 1996/97 planting season about 193,000 hectares of plantation had beenestablished, mostly with Acacia mangium. The plantation will produce woodas raw material for a pulp mill with a maximum capacity of 2.2 million tonnes ofwood per year to produce 450,000 tonnes of bleached kraft pulp per year. Thisis a huge undertaking for MHP and, since 1999 the plantation has been harvestedto supply acacia wood to the mill. The mill’s consumption is still lower than itsmaximum capacity at present, but this will steadily increase to maximumcapacity.Acacia mangium has been chosen as our major species for the followingreasons:• Fast growing, and suitable for a short rotation plantation forest• Easy to handle both in the nursery and the field• Early and prolific flowering and seed production enabling rapid generationturn-over in breeding programme• Relatively free from serious pests and diseases• Soil reclamation ability• Suitable fibre for the pulp industryAt the beginning of the project, MHP used available seeds from what wasthen the only seed source of A. mangium in South Sumatra. This seed standwas established in the late 1970s as a part of the reforestation project conductedby the Government of Indonesia. The genetic origin of this seed stand was theCairns Region (Julatten, Mossman, Cassowary, and Daintree) of Queensland,Australia and these seed sources were later proven to be sub optimal comparedwith other sources in several provenance trials. In addition, the first seed lotused to establish the stand in Subanjeriji, South Sumatra was, genetically, verynarrowly based (from only a few parent trees) which is not suitable for a longterm breeding programme.To achieve long term sustainability of the plantation, MHP then initiated atree improvement programme to broaden the genetic base and establish itsown seed sources to produce more improved seeds for its planting programme.The targets for improvement are volume production, stem form, pest and diseaseresistance, and wood quality.Ex Situ Genetic Conservation of Acacia mangiumTo ensure continual genetic improvement, MHP must secure as much geneticmaterial as possible for its future tree improvement programme. The company