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european forest genetic resources programme

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Scope of Phase IV (2010-2014)

Climate change is likely to have substantial impacts on forest management, including conservation of forest biodiversity. The genetic diversity within tree populations is a prerequisite for continuous adaptation of forests. It also plays a key role in maintaining the resilience of forests to threats. The use of forest genetic resources increases opportunities for forests to adapt to climate change and options for forest owners and managers in the face of uncertain future.

However, these opportunities and options are not yet fully acknowledged in relevant policies, such as national forest programmes and national adaptation strategies to climate change, or deployed in practical forest management. In addition, forest managers often do not pay enough attention or are not aware of genetic consequences of forest management practices and the importance of using high-quality forest reproductive material. Therefore, the member countries decided that EUFORGEN needs to continue promoting conservation and use of forest genetic resources as part of sustainable forest management.

Regarding the use of forest genetic resources, there are two issues for which recommendations are of high demand across Europe. Firstly, as climate change is expected to alter the existing provenance regions, there is a need to develop guidelines for knowledge-based use and transfer of forest reproductive material. Secondly, there is a need to better understand how the existing forests should be managed to ensure that they are able to cope with the impacts of climate change. There are several ongoing European research projects which are already addressing the two issues and which are expected to make available new information and results. EUFORGEN builds on the efforts of these projects and synthesizes the latest research findings into recommendations for policy-makers and managers.

During the past 15 years, European countries have made good progress in conserving their forest genetic resources. According to a report released the Warsaw Conference (2007), areas managed for in situ and ex situ gene conservation of forest trees show an increasing trend since 1990. However, the gene conservation efforts have largely focused on relative few, widely occurring tree species while less gene conservation areas have been established for scattered tree species, many of which are also rare or endangered ones. Furthermore, the marginal populations of many widely-distributed tree species are facing new threats due to climate change.  

During Phase IV, EUFORGEN continues facilitating implementation of practical gene conservation by developing pan-European gene conservation strategies for forest trees. Common minimum requirements for dynamic gene conservation units of forest trees have already been developed and geo-referenced data on the units is being uploaded by the countries into the new EUFGIS information system. The next step is to carry out more comprehensive analyses on the status of the existing dynamic gene conservation efforts across Europe for strategy development and further action in the field.