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The fruits of five years of work by over 50 experts in forest genetic resources across Europe are now online. EUFORGEN has just published studies of five working groups on conservation, genetic monitoring, movement of forest seeds, seedlings and samplings, climate change and policies.

These five issues concerning forest genetic resources in Europe for working groups were identified back in 2010 when the Steering Committee agreed on the workplan for the fourth phase of EUFORGEN. The working group experts met several times and gathered the state-of-the-art and literature reviews on each topic to develop strategies and recommendations for addressing the ongoing loss of forest genetic resources- crucial for the forests to adapt to changing climates and environments.

Here is the outline of the five newly published studies.

Pan-European strategy for genetic conservation of forest trees and establishment of a core network of dynamic conservation units

According to the EUFGIS portal, there are more than 3,200 genetic conservation units which harbour more than 4,000 populations of a total of around 100 tree species. An analysis of the EUFGIS information revealed significant gaps in the conservation efforts in terms of the species covered and the geographical distribution of the units within the species’ ranges.
<link http: www.euforgen.org publications publication pan-european-strategy-for-genetic-conservation-of-forest-trees-and-establishment-of-a-core-network-o _blank external-link-new-window external link in new>
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Genetic monitoring methods for genetic conservation units of forest trees in Europe.

While several schemes have been set up during the past 30 years to monitor the health and biodiversity of forests in Europe, none of them expressly collects information about status and trends of genetic diversity. This report presents the findings and recommendations of a working group which reviewed genetic monitoring methods to propose options for creating a pan-European genetic monitoring system for genetic conservation units of forest trees.
<link http: www.euforgen.org publications publication genetic-monitoring-methods-for-genetic-conservation-units-of-forest-trees-in-europe _blank external-link-new-window external link in new>
Read the full summary and download the report

Use and transfer of forest reproductive material in Europe in the context of climate change

The selection of suitable forest reproductive material (FRM) has assumed a new importance both because trees are long-lived species and because rapid climate change will have an impact on the environmental conditions of the trees as they grow and mature. The working group examined scientific research on provenance and adaptation, including several case studies of transfer, the existing regulatory framework and recent policy developments, guidelines on FRM transfer and their scientific basis, and future challenges and opportunities.
<link http: www.euforgen.org publications publication use-and-transfer-of-forest-reproductive-material-in-europe-in-the-context-of-climate-change _blank external-link-new-window external link in new>
Read the full summary and download the report

Approaches to the conservation of forest genetic resources in Europe in the context of climate change

National adaptation strategies to climate change and other policies have been formulated in many European countries to harness the potential of forests and the forestry sector for mitigating climate change. However, the impacts of climate change on forests, and especially on their genetic diversity have not been given a proper consideration in these policies. For these reasons, the EUFORGEN Steering Committee established a working group on climate change and the conservation of forest genetic resources that made several recommendations for action presented in this report.
<link http: www.euforgen.org publications publication approaches-to-the-conservation-of-forest-genetic-resources-in-europe-in-the-context-of-climate-chang _blank external-link-new-window external link in new>
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The implications of global, European and national policies for the conservation and use of forest genetic resources in Europe

The over-arching concern is that although many policies have an impact on the conservation and use of forest genetic resources (FGR), they often do not spell that out directly. Instead, FGR are supposed to be subsumed in the wording “biological diversity”, implying that all levels (ecosystems as well as interspecific and intraspecific diversity) are included by default. However, most of the time, biological diversity only refers to ecosystems. To face this background and challenge, a EUFORGEN working group was asked to study the most relevant policies at national, regional and international levels to gain a better understanding on the impacts of policies on the conservation and use of FGR which are presented in this report.
<link http: www.euforgen.org publications publication the-implications-of-global-european-and-national-policies-for-the-conservation-and-use-of-forest-ge _blank external-link-new-window external link in new>
Read the full summary and download the report