The Southeast Asian Moving Workshop on Conservation, Management and Utilization of Forest Genetic Resources was organized by the Forest Genetic Resources Conservation and Management Project (FORGENMAP) in Thailand between 25 February and 10 March 2001. The workshop brought together delegates from Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. Myanmar was unable to send a delegate but contributed a country report. The International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI), the Forestry Research Support Programme for Asia and the Pacific (FORSPA) and the Danida Forest Seed Centre (DFSC) gave additional support and their staff also participated in the workshop. The Forestry and Forest Products Division of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) made a significant technical contribution. Thailand’s Royal Forest Department (RFD) greatly facilitated the sessions in Bangkok and the field trips to various sites in Thailand.
This publication has been prepared as a joint effort between FORGENMAP, IPGRI, FORSPA, DFSC and RFD. We wish to thank the delegates and authors for their contributions to the workshop and these proceedings. Special thanks are due to the FORGENMAP staff who tirelessly coordinated the workshop and collected notes for this publication during the presentations and discussions.
As Dr Plodprasop Suraswadi, Director General of RFD, indicates in his preface, these proceedings are meant to serve as a starting point for future action to conserve and manage Southeast Asia’s forest genetic resources. The country reports give a detailed overview of national status and efforts, whereas the invited papers highlight more specific experiences from within the region and further afield. A number of the invited papers also describe the work of various regional and international organizations active in the field of forest genetic resources. Discussions during the workshop highlighted the problems, needs and expectations of future efforts to conserve and manage forest genetic resources in Southeast Asia. We believe that these discussions, and the contacts made at the workshop between the delegates and their institutions, will help to promote the sustainable use of forests and foster regional cooperation in forest genetic resources.
Jarkko Koskela
Simmathiri Appanah
Anders P. Pedersen
