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

406continues with a new perspective - how to establish plantations on degradedforest areas using indigenous species, especially in Sumatera and Kalimantan.This new program needed an integrated tree improvement and conservationeffort to support the program in relation to options for future breeding ofDipterocarps for plantation. The strategy and the approach of Inhutani I to thisissue are described below.Selection of Priority SpeciesThere are more than 500 species within the family Dipterocarpaceae (Ashton1982) and not all of them are commercially interesting to the wood industry.Furthermore, among the commercial species, not all are suitable for commercialplantation. Before decisions can be made to establish commercial Dipterocarpplantations, the selection of the priority species must be done to assure theplantations are economically and technically feasible.The major aim of this selection program is to match the correct species withthe technical and environmental requirements. Selections are implemented underseveral criteria as follows:1. The selected tree species must have high value timber2. The selected tree species must have fast growth3. The selected tree species originally existed in the planting region and thus,it is adapted to the local environment4. There is sufficient supply of planting stock through use of wildlings, cuttings,and seedlings5. There is adequate information on the silviculture of the speciesUsing these criteria, six priority species have been selected for commercialplantation by PT Inhutani I. These species are Shorea leprosula, S. johorensis,S. parvifolia, S. smithiana, S. pauciflora, and Dryobalanops lanceolata.Planting Stock ProductionThe main constraint to obtaining dependable dipterocarp planting stock is thevery irregular fruiting season, which occurs only once every 4 -5 years. Soinstead of relying on a single production method, which might encounter problems,planting stock production is derived from 3 complementary sources: seed(seedlings), wildlings, and/or cutting. PT Inhutani I uses the following approachesto produce planting stock for dipterocarp plantations.