Activities of the EUFORGEN Populus nigra Network and international co-operation in research : Die Schwarzpappel

1998

S. 126-141

13 Lit. Ang.

Unselbständiges Werk

200104527

Following the Ministrial Conference for the Protection of Forest in Europe, held in Strasbourg in 1990, and more specifically its Resolution n°.2 concerning the conservation of forest genetic resources EUFORGEN (European Forest Genetic Resources Programme) was established. EUFORGEN is a collaborative programme among European countries aimed at ensuring the effective conservation and the sustainable utilisation of forest genetic resources in Europe. It is financed by participating countries (26 at the time of December 1997) and is co-ordinated by IPGRI (International Plant Genetic Resources Institute) in collaboration with the Forestry Department of FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations). The programme operates through networks in which forest geneticists and other forestry specialists work together to analyse needs, exchange experiences and develop conservation objectives and methods for selected species. This paper explains about the working method of the Populus nigra Network, its objectives and about its achievements. One of the achievements concerns a project proposal to the EU. One of the objectives of the project, submitted to the FAIR-programme and described here, is to determine the genetic diversity in river populations of European black poplar with the aim of formulating guidelines for conservation and restoration of the species in its natural ecosystem. The project was accepted in 1997 and has started March, 1st 1998. The duration of the project is 3 years. The project members of the EUFORGEN Populus nigra network are working together with specialists in the field of molecular genetics. Traditional methods will be combined with modern techniques and the high level of standardisation will ensure a synthesis of the genetic diversity of Populus nigra in Europe.