Camcore congress opens here

JAKARTA (JP): The Central American and Mexico Coniferous Resources Cooperative (Camcore), one of the world's major tree breeding and preserving institutions, began its 10-day congress here yesterday.

Camcore director William S. Dvorak said the organization would discuss the latest developments in its genetic conservation and tree breeding programs during the congress, which ends on Friday week.

Dvorak said this year's congress, the first held in an Asian country, will be important for the organization's future activities.

"In this meeting, we will not only discuss what we have to do for the coming years, but also exchange information about the developments in the genetic preservation and tree breeding programs of each member," he said.

The congress is being organized by PT Surya Hutani Jaya, the organization's only Indonesian member. The previous congress was held in Chile in 1993.

Visit

PT Surya Hutani Jaya executive Adi Resanata S. Halim said participants would also visit a number of forest preservation centers and industrial forests in the Central Javanese cities of Surakarta and Yogyakarta plus Kalimantan.

He said he hoped the meeting would attract the attention of other Indonesian timber companies and encourage them to join Camcore.

"We hope some other timber producers will also apply for membership of Camcore. It is good for us because being a member we can benefit from the organization's genetic forest research and development research," he said.

Camcore, was established in the United States in 1980 as a non-profit organization focussing on genetic forest preservation and tree breeding. Camcore has 32 members comprising timber producers and forestry-related organizations from 16 countries.

Initially the organization's working programs focused on the genetic preservation and the breeding of rare trees grown in Central America and Mexico, Dvorak said.

"At present, the working program has changed, Camcore also explores some rare Asian trees," he said. "Genetic preservation has, for example, also been done on the Gmelina arborea tree, which grows in Southeast Asian countries such Indonesia, Myanmar, Thailand and Malaysia."

People at the congress represent universities, non- governmental organizations and timber producers from Australia, Brazil, Chile, Columbia, Indonesia, Mexico, New Zealand, South Africa, the United States, Venezuela and Zimbabwe. (hen)