The individual countries proposed areas for further research, national, regional and international cooperation. The following is a summary of research issues based on the individual country reports and to some extent on an analysis of other relevant literature.
1 The major causes of deforestation largely lie outside the forestry sector. It is therefore desirable to improve coordination between the forestry sector and the other sectors such as agriculture, which have been identified as contributing to the continued deforestation and forest degradation. In particular, certain policies such as agricultural and structural adjustment policies have been blamed for the deforestation (Minde et al., 2001; Chipika and Kowero, 2000; Mutakela, 2001).
2 More research is needed to develop appropriate storage methods for recalcitrant tree seeds if these species are to be conserved in ex situ seed gene banks.
3 Research will be needed to design appropriate methods and monitoring of the success of new initiatives such as co-management of forests with local communities, which is being espoused in the new forest policies.
4 There is a need to address the region’s high dependency on wood as an energy source. This could be addressed through the development of efficient stoves that will reduce the amount of firewood used and also alternative but still cheaper energy sources.
5 Financial and human resources for the sustainable management of the forest genetic resources have been identified as limiting in most of the 11 SADC countries. There is therefore a need to improve cooperation at local, regional and international level to minimize duplication and optimize use of resources.
6 The SADC as a region has sufficient forestry training institutions. In Botswana, training from diploma level to post graduate level was identified as being important. Short courses were also identified as being important in Botswana, Mozambique and Namibia.
7 Several broad areas of research covering germplasm collection, evaluation and conservation of forest genetic resources were identified as a priority by the different countries: The forest tree species themselves were also identified (Table 8). The areas of research identified are:-
(i) Development of sound natural woodland management strategies
(ii) Development of strategies and techniques for conserving endangered species in the region
(iii) Development of a database of species requiring urgent conservation measures.
(iv) Collection of germplasm of endangered and threatened species for both in in situ and ex situ conservation.
(v) Propagation of threatened species
(vi) Development of optimum storage conditions for long-term storage of recalcitrant forest tree seed.
(vii) Development and commercialization of non wood forest products
(viii) Accelerate the evaluation, breeding and selection of economically important indigenous fruit tree species and agroforestry species.
(ix) Biotechnology and its application to forestry matters such as conservation, appears to be weak as reflected by its conspicuous absence, even its mere mention in all the country reports.
