The first issue of forest Genetic Resources Information (FGRI) was published in 1973 on the recommendation of the FAO Panel of Experts on Forest Gene Resources. The purpose of this newsletter, published by FAO's Forestry Department at irregular intervals (maximum 3 issues per biennium), is to disseminate information on forest tree seed supplies; seed collection, handling, storage, testing and certification; the organization of, and results from, international provenance trials; and various aspects of the conservation and wise utilization of forest genetic resources. The newsletter is printed in English (2 000 copies per issue), French (350 copies) and Spanish (350 copies), and distributed free of charge to State Forest Services, forest research institutes, universities and individual scientists who have expressed an interest in the publication.
The value of FGRI has been acknowledged repeatedly, e.g. by the FAO Panel of Experts on Forest Gene Resources (1974, 1977), the Third World Consultation on Forest Tree Breeding (Canberra 1977) and a great number of IUFRO Workshops, Seminars and Working Party meetings dealing with this subject. However, the most convincing evidence of the need for a worldwide publication such as FGRI is the support we have had from our readers during the 8 years of publication, as evidenced by its expanding mailing list.
FGRI is a specialized publication, written by, and for, foresters working in the field of forest genetic resources. The contents of FGRI has been slanted towards the topics given high priority by the readers themselves in replies to a questionnaire included in the first two issues. The results of the readership survey, published in FGRI nos. 3 and 6, are reproduced below for your reference. Comments and suggestions on the contents and format of FGRI will, however, continue to be welcome. We will also appreciate receiving notices and information of general interest for inclusion in future issues.
In view of rising costs of both publication and despatch of documents, a form has been included in this issue of FGRI in which readers are asked to confirm their continued interest in this publication. All readers are asked to kindly complete and return the attached form as soon as possible. This will enable us to judge the continuing demand for FGRI, monitor the interest in it in different parts of the world and, at the same time, update and correct the mailing list.
In the absence of a returned form, it will be assumed that the recipiant is no longer interested in receiving future issues of FGRI.
FOREST GENETIC RESOURCES INFORMATION: REPLIES TO A QUESTIONNAIRE
(Earlier published in FGRI no. 6, 1977)
| Priority | |||||
| High | Medium | Low | |||
| 1. | Exploration and Collection | ||||
| (natural variation in forest trees, proposed and past seed collecting expeditions, methodology of collecting) | 353 | 182 | 24 | ||
| 2. | Evaluation | ||||
| (provenance seed available, proposed and current provenance trials, methodology of provenance trials, results) | 425 | 110 | 14 | ||
| 3. | Conservation | ||||
| (natural stands in situ, specially planted conservation stands, seed or pollen) | 249 | 225 | 71 | ||
| 4. | Utilisation | ||||
| a. | Provision of seed on large scale | 111 | 120 | 159 | |
| b. | Further selection and breeding (international register of phenotypes/genotypes, international seed orchards and progeny trials) | 147 | 101 | 24 | |
| a + b 1 | 138 | 82 | 27 | ||
| 5. | Records | ||||
| a. Seed certification | 190 | 233 | 118 | ||
| b. Data recording, storage and retrieval | 155 | 233 | 138 | ||
| 6. | Miscellaneous | ||||
| a. Summaries on forest genetic resources of individual species | 318 | 195 | 28 | ||
| b. News items (publications, forthcoming meetings, etc.) | 222 | 263 | 59 | ||
| c. Information from related fields in agricultural plant genetic resources | 81 | 232 | 209 | ||
TOTAL NUMBER OF QUESTIONNAIRES RETURNED (1977): 575
The figures indicate number of persons who rated the subject as high, medium and low priority.
