In 1973 some technological studies were carried out by CIRAD-Forêt (formerly C.T.F.T). These provided the principal mechanical and physical properties of timber, based on only one sample, from the following tree species: Calophyllum neo-ebudicum, Flueggea flexuosa, Planchonella torricellencis, Pometia pinnata, Syzygium inophhylloides and Syzygium sp.
In 1997, CIRAD-Forêt carried out a study of physical or mechanical properties of Pinus caribaea on the basis of samples from Wallis.
No other evaluation study has been carried out. Neither has any tree species improvement activity been undertaken.
Annex 4 indicates, for the species identified as high priority, the genetic resources processes and activities to be undertaken. We are deliberately limited to a restricted number of tree species (eight), as they are the trees considered most important and which are potentially the most threatened, since they are present only in natural formations. They are: Calophyllum inophyllum, Flueggea flexuosa, Neonauclea fosteri, Planchonella Iinggensis, Pometia pinnata, Syzygium clusiaefolium, Syzygium inophylloides and Syzygium sp.
The main aim for these tree species is to ensure their conservation. In situ conservation could be carried out in the short term by appropriate regulations to protect important forest stands (the regulations should be studied with the customary authorities, who currently are the only ones who can be concerned with land tenure). For Calophyllum inophyllum, found only on a very narrow coastal strip, conservation in situ has not been considered appropriate.
In addition, conservation ex situ of all three species appears as a high priority. This could be done with plantations on the only available areas, least subject to human pressure: the fern moors ("toafa"). In the same way, one could carry out enrichment with broadleaved trees in Pinus caribaea stands, at the same time as thinning is practised there. Ex situ conservation should not be static but open to new future uses, such as harvest of seed and wood.
It is thus indispensable to have propagation techniques available for these tree species and therefore reproductive material: first by sexual means, knowing seed physiology and their stocking requirements, followed by vegetation means (cutting).
It would also seem very useful to have available, in the short-term, complementary information on the ecology, natural distribution and phenology of these eight tree species. For Syzygium clusiaefolium, whose local names can vary, it is important to find out if one is dealing with one or many species - and even if it is in fact the Syzygium genus.
