REGIONAL WORKSHOP ON IN SITU CONSERVATION OF GENETIC RESOURCES OF WOODY SPECIES IN ARID AND SEMI-ARID AREAS

Held in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, 31 January – 4 February 1994

A Regional Workshop on In-Situ Conservation of Genetic Resources of Woody Species in Arid and Semi-Arid Areas was organized by the National Forest Seed Centre of Burkina Faso (CNSF) with the technical collaboration and support of FAO, the Forest Service of the United States Department of Agriculture, the European Union, the Inter-Governmental Committee Against Draught in the Sahel (CILSS) and IBPGR. The workshop which was the first of its kind, was attended by 50 participants from the following 10 countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Ghana, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Togo and USA (resource person). Participants were scientists, field foresters and representatives of farmers' associations.

The main objectives of the workshop were:

to raise awareness of genetic resource conservation needs and their integration into sound utilization/management programmes,
to exchange information, and
to define priorities for action at national and regional levels, based on national reports and on recommendations of the working groups set up during the workshop.

Target species were identified, and draft plans of action were proposed by the workshop participants for further elaboration and implementation through regional networks, which the workshop recommended should be established as a follow-up. The 11 target species were: Parkia biglobosa, Butyrospermum paradoxum, Acacia senegal, Anogeissus leiocarpus, Pterocarpus erinaceus, Faidherbia albida, Adansonia digitata, Dalbergia melanoxylon, Borassus aethiopum, Acacia nilotica, Khaya senegalensis.

For more information please contact:
Centre National de Semences Forestières
01 BP 2682, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso