Abstract

Throughout the tropics there are numerous perennial woody species that have provided indigenous peoples with many of their needs for millennia: fuel-wood, poles, timber, fruits, gums, nuts, resins, fibre, pharmaceutical products, etc. These trees are cut down indiscriminately and are often commercially ignored in favour of a handful of exotic species. The aim of an international conference organized by the Institute of Terrestrial Ecology was to draw attention to a growing effort to domesticate a much wider array of genetically-rich tree species and introduce them into agricultural and forestry systems. The techniques described in these conference proceedings aim to solve the biological issues which until now have stood in the way of the rapid domestication of tropical trees.