CAMCORE - INDUSTRY AND GOVERNMENTS EFFORTS TO CONSERVE THREATENED FOREST SPECIES IN GUATEMALA, HONDURAS AND MEXICO

In 1980, the Central America and Mexico Coniferous Resources Cooperative (CAMCORE) was organized by forest industry, government agencies, and the College of Forest Resources, North Carolina State University, to preserve and test threatened forest species and populations in Middle America. The cooperative has now grown to include 16 organizations in nine countries. Explorations and subsequent seed collections in Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico have resulted in the successful ex-situ gene conservation of 5203 trees, representing 21 species and 187 different provenances of conifers and hardwoods. Genetic material from the Central American and Mexican seed collections have been established in 500 ha of gene-conservation banks and genetic tests on lands belonging to members of the cooperative in Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, South Africa, the United States, and Venezuela. Pedigree information on mother-tree collections and subsequent field plantings is on computer database at North Carolina State University. Early results from CAMCORE genetic tests indicate that height gains of approximately 20% are possible in the tropics by simply using alternative species and more-productive seed sources. Cooperative-wide tree improvement programs are now being planned for Pinus caribaea and P. tecunumanii. © 1990.