Latin America and the Caribbean have the highest proportion of forests of all regions worldwide. Of great concern, however, is the annual net loss of the forest cover in this region which during the period 2000-2005 corresponded to 65 percent of the global annual net loss, based on figures from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). The World Bank has recently estimated that more than 1.6 billion people depend for some part of their livelihood on these ecosystems. The loss of biodiversity, combined with overexploitation and introduction of exotic species, has reduced options for sustainable livelihoods among forest depending communities.

To find out more about LAFORGEN, scroll down or click on the links below.

The need for action
Mission and objectives
Areas of investigation
Impact on the society
LAFORGEN members

The need for action
It is evident that effective mechanisms for conservation and sustainable use of forest genetic resources are urgently needed. Bioversity and the Centre of Forest Research of the National Institute of Spain for Agricultural and Food Technology (Cifor-INIA) have joined efforts to support the conservation and use of biodiversity of forest ecosystems. As part of their collaboration they arranged a workshop in the Regional Office of Bioversity in the Americas, in Cali, Colombia with financial support from INIA (Spain) with the objective to identify priority researchable issues in the region and to define ways to tackle the most pressing issues posing threats to forest genetic resources.

Read the full report of the inception workshop (in Spanish) (PDF 147 KB).

One of the main outcomes of the workshop was the creation of a network for the conservation and sustainable use of Forest Genetic Resources in Latin America (LAFORGEN). This aims to connect professionals from different research institutes of several countries in Latin America that are working on forest genetic resources to optimize the efforts in conservation and sustainable use of forest genteic resources, through research projects focused on shared priority thematic areas of work. LAFORGEN intends to facilitate the exchange of research experiences and information and to function as a share point of established infrastructures for investigation among institutes.

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Mission and objectives
As defined during the recent inception workshop, LAFORGEN's mission is to help create a sound and cooperative management of FGR in Latin America, in order to improve the livelihoods of forest-dependent communities. The objectives of the network are to:

• catalyze, support and implement priority actions related to conservation and use of forest genetic resources in Latin America, through enhanced collaboration among countries;
• support and stimulate the exchange of experience and information among scientists and related professionals in the conservation and use of forest genetic reources;
• stimulate the publication of scientific and technical publications related to the theme of the network;
• stimulate initiatives in conservation through the formulation of projects that involve local communities in the domestication of native forest species;
• identify themes and donors for specific projects that are of regional interest and develop concept notes and research proposals;
• execute and stimulate capacity building within the themes of the network.
assist in the formation of working groups along specific themes and
• organize and hold regional meetings and workshops for the purpose of sharing experiences, discussing specific themes, coordinating and evaluating activities.

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Areas of investigation
LAFORGEN has identified the following major themes for research collaboration in Latin America:

• Theme 1: Strategies for conservation of genetic diversity in threatened native forest species.
• Theme 2: The impact of use of native forest species (timber and non-timber products) on their genetic diversity
• Theme 3: Domestication (participative) and tree breeding.
• Theme 4: Storage and exchange systems for tree germplasm: technical and political issues.

Within the framework of these themes, LAFORGEN's member will develop collaborative research proposals. These will be based on the ability to address the major regional researchable constraints to conservation and use of forest and tree genetic resources; working with forest species of common interest among the countries, which were identified on their socio-economic value, ecological importance and geographical distribution.

Some of the identified priority species for LAFORGEN include Cedrela spp., Prosopis spp., Swietenia spp., Podocarpus spp., palms (Arecaceae) and fruit trees.

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Impact on the society
The activities of LAFORGEN can only function and succeed with an active participation of the local communities, and within the framework that meets donor and national government objectives.

LAFORGEN has the objective to create greater awareness concerning the economic, social and environmental importance of forest genetic resources work. The network members will aim to demonstrate the benefits of FGR conservation and the consequences of its loss, and communicate with different stakeholders related to forest genetic resources in a manner that encourages common understanding.

With the development of this network we hope to elevate research on forest genetic resources to a higher level in Latin America. Presently the network is in its initial phase thus structure and activities are of an informal nature. The network is expected to progressively grow and include representation of additional countries in Latin America, extending its boundaries beyond the nine countries now actively participating.

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LAFORGEN members

Country	Member	Institution
Bariloche, Argentina	Leonardo Gallo	Unidad genética Forestal (INTA)
Cochabamba, Bolivia	Lilibeth Silva Leigue	Universidad Mayor de San Simón (UMSS)
Santa Cruz, Bolivia	Blas García	Centro de Investigación Agrícola Tropical (CIAT)
Acre, Brasil	Lucia Helena de Oliveira Wadt	Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa)
Sao Paulo, Brasil	Weber Amaral	Universidad de Sao Paulo (USP)
Concepción, Chile	María Paz Molina	Instituto forestal de Chile (INFOR)
Chillan, Chile	Mario Paredes	Instituto de Investigaciones Agropecuarias (INIA)
Costa Rica	Carlos Navarro	Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza (CATIE)
Macas, Ecuador	Milton Reinoso	Fundación Servicio Forestal Amazónico (SFA)
Quito, Ecuador	Lenin Prado	Dirección Nacional Forestal - Ministero del Ambiente
Piura, Peru	Luís Alban	Naturaleza y Cultura Internacional (NCI)
Lima, Peru	Jonathan Cornelius	Centro Mundial de Agroforesteria (ICRAF - Peru)
Tacuarembo, Uruguay	Zohra Bennadji	Instituto Nacional de Investigación Agropecuaria (INIA)
Bogota, Colombia	Víctor Nieto	Corporación Nacional de Investigación & Fomento Forestal (CONIF)
Guaviare, Colombia	Guillermo Vargas	Instituto Amazónica de Investigaciones Científicas (SINCHI) - Regional Guaviare
Cali, Colombia	Fabio Lozano	Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos ”Alexander von Humboldt”

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