EXCHANGING .AND CONSERVING TREE BREEDING MATERIALS 285 



projects, Forestry Research Institutes have been strengthened in Turkey, 

 Tunisa, Costa Rica, China (Taiwan), Pakistan, Malaysia, and other 

 countries. These Institutes have been and probably will continue to be 

 important sources for obtaining forest tree germ plasm. 



IUFRO 



Section 22 of IUFRO serves the member organizations with activities 

 involving "the study of forest plants," particularly with forest tree 

 breeding. Several Working Groups of this Section are actively engaged 

 in exchanging, testing, and conserving forest tree germ plasm. Only two 

 Working Groups will be mentioned here. 



The Working Group on the Collection of Seed for International 

 Provenance Trials is under the direction of Mr. Helmuth Barner at 

 Humlebaek, Denmark. This Working Group brings together the research 

 organizations desiring seed for provenance trials. The reason for the 

 formation of the Working Group was the extensive international interest 

 to acquire seeds of conifers growing along the Pacific Coast of Western 

 North America. Since the Working Group was formed in 1965, annual 

 collection expeditions have been made to Canada and the United States. 

 As of July 1969, 48 institutions in 26 countries have received 1720 

 samples of Douglas-fir and 1217 samples of lodgepole and shore pines. 

 Collections of Sitka spruce, ponderosa pine, and associated species are 

 also underway. This Working Group, having developed a unique procedure 

 for international financing of seed collections, might be able to assist 

 in acquiring seeds of desired species from Europe and Asia. 



Another Working Group is concerned with the coordination of inter- 

 national provenance research. This Working Group is under Mr. Pierre 

 Bouvarel at Nancy, France. It has two primary functions: the first is 

 to bring together information on existing provenance trials for those 

 who desire access to people knowledgeable about tests already made on 

 species that concern them; the second is to coordinate provenance trials 

 now being established with seed collected by Barner's Working Group and 

 by others. 



OTHER INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS 



The International Biological Programme has a strong interest in 

 promoting international cooperation through exchanges of plant materials 

 and evaluation of plant resources. These activities are carried on under 

 Section UM concerned with the Use and Management of Biological Resources. 

 International programs, having a broad interest and requiring international 

 cooperation, can be proposed to each nation's IBP committee for recogni- 

 tion and support. 



The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is 

 primarily concerned with the preservation of natural resources. Its 

 Survival Service compiles lists of endangered species and engenders 

 support for protection. Any species, provenances, or populations of 

 forest trees that are threatened with extinction or loss of valuable gene 

 resources through the actions of man should be called to the attention 

 of this organization. Efforts to preserve threatened species might be 

 supported by the IUCN. 



