PRESERVATION AND IMPROVEMENT OF FOREST GENETIC RESOURCES
Activities financed by EAFRD, Spanish Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment, Galician regional government Xunta de Galicia (Sub-measure 323.2.3).
Actions aimed at the preservation and breeding of forest resources. The main goal is to preserve biodiversity and prevent its degradation as well as the risk of disappearance of Galician forests singular elements. This is done by collecting, preserving, characterizing, evaluating, documentating and disseminating the use of genetic resources.
Implemented actions include activities involving four priority species: Pinus pinaster, Castanea sativa, Prunus avium and Pinus radiata. In each species, the activities are focused on creating a “Main Population of Improvement,” consisting of 100 to 200 quality individuals selected in Galician populations. It also involves the selection of an elite population to obtain improved materials of propagation in the short term. Birch, yew, Douglas fir and redwood are other species activities are being developed on.
The goal is to increase the quantity and quality of wood for the first and second-stage processing industries. It is also aimed at industries of products for local consumption to supply different fruits markets, such as the chestnut and walnut ones.
Genetic material is selected according to adaptive traits, resistance to diseases and pests, growth in volume as well as wood quality traits for industrial changes.
