AN OVERVIEW OF FOREST GENETIC RESOURCE CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT IN THE PACIFIC

Forests and trees play an important role in the lives of Pacific islanders but significant loss of biodiversity has become a major concern recently due to destructive human activities associated with mining, agricultural clearing and commercial logging. The South Pacific Regional Initiative on Forest Genetic Resources (SPRIG) projects implemented from 1997 to 2006, with participation by Fiji, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Tonga, laid the foundation for the conservation and management of forest genetic resources in the Pacific. The projects have three major components: conservation, tree improvement and institutional development. Since 2006, the Forests and Trees Programme of the Land Resources Division of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) has undertaken the mandate initiated by SPRIG projects to promote the value of forest genetic resources, including breadfruit, and their fundamental importance to sustainable development for all of its member countries in the Pacific.