There is a general awareness among foresters that the provenance of tree crops is very often as important as, or even more important than, the species. In the last five years considerable progress has been made in identifying provenances of valuable species and in collecting seed from them. A significant measure of international cooperation has developed which makes it possible to supply seed of well identified provenances in research quantities to countries that would not otherwise be able to obtain it; it also ensures that, through the organisation of standardised provenance trials, these collections are tested on a far more comprehensive scale than any country, rich or poor, could hope to achieve by itself.
Nevertheless, despite the very useful advances that are being made in this field, progress in introducing and testing new provenances is slow in many areas. One of the factors delaying progress in this field was identified by the Panel of Experts on Forest Gene Resources at its second session in March 1971 as being the inadequate dissemination of information. It recommended the publication by FAO of FOREST GENETIC RESOURCES INFORMATION which it hoped would go some way to remedy this deficiency. The intention was to produce FOREST GENETIC RESOURCES INFORMATION at irregular intervals, wherever sufficient information for interest accumulates.
1972 coincided with the beginning of a period of severe financial stringency in FAO and of an overall critical review of its publications. In these circumstances it is all the more important to establish that an urgent, real need exists for a new recurrent publication before undertaking to publish it on a continuing basis. The present document is therefore published as a miscellaneous occasional paper. If it receives a broad measure of support from foresters and tree breeders around the world, it is hoped to convert it into a continuing series. Readers are urged to complete the enclosed questionnaire and return it to:
Chief Forest Management Branch
F.A.O.
Viale delle Terme di Caracalla
00100 Rome
Italy
The response to this questionnaire will constitute the evidence for judging the demand for a recurrent publication of this nature.
In the present document we have reproduced shortened accounts of seed collecting expeditions by three men. The accounts by Henrik Keiding and Ron Kemp will be of particular interest to many tropical and sub-tropical countries, since their collections were made with the specific objective of testing the provenances in international provenance trials.
Other topics appropriate for inclusion in future publications of this nature include, in addition to accounts of later seed collecting expeditions as they occur, reports of results of provenance trials, articles on designing and laying out species and provenance trials and on techniques for seed collection and conservation of gene resources, and information on availability of seed and other propagating material. In fact we would hope to provide a service for passing on any useful information on gene resources that we come across.
