6.1. IN SITUCONSERVATION
6.2. EX SITUCONSERVATION
There are basically two methods used in forest geneticresource conservation, namely the in situ (on site) and the exsitu (off site) conservation methods.
The in situ conservation method is the protection andmaintenance of species populations in the ecosystem in which they occur. It isespecially adapted to species which cannot be established or regenerated outsidetheir natural habitats. According to Shaffer (1981), there are four main factorswhich influence the survival of in situ conservation populations:environmental stochasticity, natural catastrophes, demographic stochasticity andgenetic stochasticity.
The ex situ conservation method is the protection andmaintenance of genetic resources outside their original environment for whichthe reasons may be:
- to safeguard populations which are in danger ofphysical destruction, for example, if intensive pressure exists on an importantspecies (or the area where it grows) and the protection in situ is notpossible;- to safeguard populations which are in danger of geneticdeterioration;
- to ensure a readily available supply ofproductive material e.g. by creating seed production stands;
See AlsoA Guide to Forest Seed Handling- to allow commercial improvement of aspecies through breeding activities in order to produce genotypes which givehigher economic yields.
6.1. IN SITUCONSERVATION
In an effort to ensure sustainable management and utilizationof forest resources in the country, the Government of the Republic of Zambiathrough the Forestry Department has set aside certain forest areas as protectedforests or forest reserves. There are at the moment 432 forest reserves in thecountry which cover nearly 7.4 million hectares. There are also 6.4 millionhectares of forest in national parks which are protected by the National Parksand Wildlife Services. The areas covered by national and local forestsdesignated as protected forests are indicated in tables 5 and 6.
TABLE 5: FOREST AND TREE COVER IN ZAMBIA,1996
| Provinces | Areas (million ha) | |||||
| Forest reserves | Forest in open areas | Game management areas | National parks | Trees outside forests | Total | |
| Central | 0.59 | 1.56 | 2.18 | 1.23 | 1.98 | 7.54 |
| Copperbelt | 0.52 | 0.79 | 0.44 | 0.00 | 0.66 | 2.40 |
| Eastern | 0.84 | 0.59 | 2.92 | 0.36 | 1.11 | 5.83 |
| Luapula | 0.38 | 1.72 | 0.30 | 0.10 | 20.01 | 4.52 |
| Lusaka | 0.03 | 0.19 | 0.65 | 0.51 | 0.36 | 1.75 |
| Northern | 1.12 | 5.35 | 0.96 | 1.38 | 3.13 | 11.94 |
| North-Western | 0.41 | 1.70 | 2.40 | 0.87 | 1.63 | 9.00 |
| Southern | 0.67 | 1.45 | 1.52 | 1.02 | 1.97 | 6.64 |
| Western | 0.62 | 1.13 | 4.27 | 0.87 | 3.03 | 9.90 |
| Total | 7.18 | 14.48 | 15.64 | 6.35 | 15.88 | 59.52 |
TABLE 6: AREAS COVERED BY PROTECTED FORESTS IN EACHPROVINCE
| Provinces | Areas (ha) | ||
| National forests | Local forests | Total | |
| Central | 320326 | 223097 | 543423 |
| Copperbelt | 269379 | 231 | 269610 |
| Eastern | 678864 | 158963 | 837827 |
| Western | 214193 | 276418 | 490611 |
| Northern | 799286 | 310969 | 1110255 |
| North-Western | 1866560 | 356383 | 2222943 |
| Southern | 207690 | 356654 | 564344 |
| Total | 4356298 | 1682715 | 6039013 |
Within some protected forest areas, the Forestry Department,through the Division of Forest Research, has set up some botanical reserves forthe purpose of biodiversity and genetic resource conservation. At the moment,there are 53 botanical reserves in the country located in 8 provinces and 29districts as shown in table 7.
TABLE 7: LIST OF BOTANICAL RESERVES BYPROVINCE
Provinces | Number of districts covered | Number of botanical reserves |
Copperbelt | 5 | 10 |
Southern | 4 | 6 |
Northern | 6 | 11 |
Eastern | 1 | 3 |
Western | 2 | 6 |
Central | 3 | 5 |
Luapula | 4 | 6 |
North-Western | 4 | 6 |
Total | 29 | 53 |
Most of the botanical reserves were established from 1972 to1973. The details of the assessments carried out at the time of establishmentshowing the total number of plant species in different categories are given inappendix 3. The table of appendix 4 shows the distribution of target speciesunder different ecological zones and their estimated numbers.
6.2. EX SITUCONSERVATION
Very little work has been done on ex situ conservationespecially for indigenous tree species. So far, only one species, namelyBaikiaea plurijuga, has been tested outside its natural environment onvery small trial plots on the Copperbelt. Results have shown very high rates ofgrowth on the Copperbelt, where rainfall is around 1 275 mm per annum, comparedto about 726 mm per annum where Baikiaea plurijuga grows naturally. Inthe plantation trial plots at Masese, which is within the natural habitat forB. plurijuga, a mean height of 6.7 meters was obtained at the age of 33years, whereas in the trial plot established at Chati on the Copperbelt, a meanheight of 17.1 meters was attained at the age of 34 years.
More work on ex situ gene conservation has beenconducted on exotic species. Between 1977 and 1979, 70 hectares of geneconservation stands were established in Zambia for testing three provenances ofPinus oocarpa from Central America (Bonete, Mt Pine Ridge and Yucul) andtwo provenances of Eucalyptus tereticornis from Australia. The geneconservation stands were established at Chati and Siamambo under a FAO (Food andAgriculture Organization of the United Nations) coordinated ex situ GeneResource Conservation Project. Other countries which participated in thisproject were Australia, Brazil, Congo, Cuba, India, Ivory Coast, Philippines,Tanzania and Thailand. Kenya joined in 1997. A total of 5 tropical pines and 2eucalyptus, with a total of 39 provenances and 76 different seedlots, were usedin the project. Results from Zambia have been very good except for the illegalcutting of timber especially eucalyptus poles by villagers around Siamambo(Sekeli, 1999).
