by
Roberto Hocker Leguía
Agricultural and Forestry Engineer
and
Luis Osorio Carbajal
Specialist Engineer
INTRODUCTION
In the Republic of Peru, a Forest Tree Seed Bank is operating on a trial basis with State financing secured since 1974. At present the Bank is still in the process of establishment, but it is hoped that the project will take off in 1977 and that significant results will be achieved.
NATURAL FEATURES OF PERU
Peru, a country with a great diversity of climates, soils and terrain, is ideal for the production of seeds representing a wide range of phenotypes and genotypes. Its natural forests are distributed between the coast, the sierra and the lowland rain forest and in some areas contain no less than 50 botanical species per hectare, which is an indication of the wealth of germplasm they contain. Although it lies in the tropical belt of the world, Peru possesses a considerable amount of high land, the tree line lying at 4 400 m a.s.l., where there are still some relicts of great value for genetic improvement.
OBJECTIVE
At present, the main objective of the Bank is to look after internal distribution and the introduction of imported species in order to succeed, by 1978, in covering the entire internal demand, which is estimated at 2.5 metric tons. Another important aim is to install and operate special facilities that satisfy the minimum requirements, and for which the engineer's designs are already drawn up. In the longer term, it is hoped to be able to export Peruvian seed from provenences adapted to aridity and high altitudes.
The Bank has a secure future and it can already engage in technical scientific correspondence with other countries. Correspondence should be addressed to:
Banco Nacional de Semillas Forestales
Servicio Forestal y de Caza
Ministerio de Agricultura
Natalio Sánchez 20-Jesús María
Lima
Peru
WORK PLANS
| 1. | In the short term: | - | To complete the equipment of laboratories and seed storagerooms. |
| - | To continue with the establishment of seed stands in the three natural regions of Peru: (1) Coast: 0–1 000 m a.s.l. (arid or semi-arid western region); (2) Sierra: 1 000 – 4 200 m a.s.l. (middle region); (3) Lowland rain forest: 2 000 – 100 m a.s.l. (eastern region). | ||
| - | To make available for export no less than 1 metric ton of seed. | ||
| 2. | In the medium term: | - | To establish one seed stand in each of the 57 forest districts into which the country has been divided. |
| 3. | In the long term: | - | To continue and expand work on genetic improvement. |
Four lines of action will be implemented: (1) Operations (including exploration and collection), (2) Seed quality control, (3) Germplasm including tree improvement, (4) Distribution.
CONSERVATION UNITS
In 1975, the Ministry of Agriculture issued a law aimed at the rational use and protection of the country's renewable natural resources. For this purpose, the law considers as constituting part of the forest resource the areas that are necessary for the protection, conservation and utilization of the flora and wildlife, in the form of “conservation units”.
The conservation units are designated as national parks, national reserves, national sanctuaries and historic sanctuaries and are declared as such by Supreme Decrees. These units afford valuable means of protecting forest species that are in danger of disappearing, while at the same time they constitute real germplasm banks and make it possible to undertake reforestation work with species that are becoming extinct. This is the importance that these Units hold for the work of genetic improvement carried out by the National Forest Tree Seed Bank of Peru.
Seeds Available from the Peruvian Forest Tree Seed Bank
Acacia macracantha (Willd.)
Caesalpina spinosa (Moll.)
Casuarina cunninghamiana (L.) Mig.
Cupressus goveniana (Gord.)
Cupressus macrocarpa (Gord.) Hartw
Eucalyptus citriodora Hook.
Eucalyptus globulus Labill.
Eucalyptus camaldulensis Dehnh.
Jacaranda acutifolia Humb.
Poinciana regia Bojer
Prosopis juliflora (SW.) D.C.
Thuya orientalis Linn.
Tipuana tipu (Benth.)
Pinus radiata D.Don
