286 ROBERT Z. CALLAHAM 



The International Union of Societies of Forestry is having its 

 organization meeting this week in Washington, D.C. This organization in 

 the future should provide a communication link for tree breeders to reach 

 those interested in forestry and probably also those interested in tree 

 breeding in other countires. This channel may be particularly valuable 

 if a breeder does not know anyone concerned with forestry in a foreign 

 country. 



Several other multi-national organizations exist and can be useful 

 in arranging for the exchange of forest tree breeding materials. Perhaps 

 the most active of these organizations has been the East African 

 Agriculture and Forestry Research Organization (EAAFRO) at Muguga, Kenya. 

 Another that is expressing increasing interest in this topic is the Latin 

 American Forest Research Institute at Merida, Venezuela. 



NATIONAL ACTIVITIES 



Many nations participate actively in collecting, exchanging, and 

 conserving forest germ plasm. To list all would be impossible, and 

 certainly many would be overlooked. However, several are worthy of 

 metnion. These are the countries which have generously collected their 

 own seeds and provided them at little or no cost. Australia's Forest 

 Research Institute at Canberra has systematically collected seed repre- 

 senting many species and provenances of eucalyptus that are in most 

 demand around the world. Mexico's National Institute for Forestry 

 Investigations at Mexico City has been doing the same for pines and other 

 conifers. The U. S. Forest Service has distributed more than 5,600 samples 

 of seed through its exchange program since 1955. 



Several nations participate in overseas development programs from 

 which seed exchanges have been forthcoming. Examples of some of these 

 are the Thai-Danish Teak Improvement Centre which started operations in 

 Thailand early in 1965 and a Thai-Danish Pine Improvement Centre which 

 recently started. A new Danish-FAO Tree Seed Centre at Humlebaek will 

 specialize in seed procurement in southeast Asia. The French Centre 

 National de Recherches Forestieres has cooperated in collections of seed 

 from Turkey, and the Centre Technique Forestier Tropical is developing 

 provenance trials with several countries in western Africa. Norwegian 

 bilaterial aid and EAAFRO have joined forces to explore and collect 

 seed in the Caribbean. The United Kingdom overseas aid program is 

 sponsoring seed collections by the Commonwealth Forestry Institute at 

 Oxford. This program concentrates on the fast-growing tropical hardwoods 

 and conifers of concern to Commonwealth countries. 



A slightly different program is supported by the United States under 

 Public Law 480. Administration is by the Agriculture Research Service in 

 the Department of Agriculture. Under this program, excess currencies are 

 used to support forestry research in certain countries. Breeding programs, 

 seed collections, and conservation of forest tree germ plasm are supported. 

 Under certain circumstances, PL 480 projects can be helpful in providing 

 seed that is needed for research in this country. 



Certainly the great contributions to international cooperation by 

 individual research institutions and scientists cannot be overlooked. 

 An enormous volume of seed is exchanged strictly on a cooperative basis 

 in order to further research programs of both the sender and the receiver. 

 A new listing of the workers in forest tree breeding around the world has 



