Deployment of Elite Eucalypt Genetic Material in Southern Africa

Silvia Pongracic - 1997

Southern Africa has a history of establishing eucalypt plantations predominantly for pulp and paper but also for sawn timber production.

The climate in Southern Africa favours the growth of sub tropical eucalypt species such as Eucalyputus grandis which appreciate the warm climate and summer rainfall achieved in the wetter areas of South Africa and Zimbabwe.

Both private and government forestry organisation have had a focus on genetically improving eucalypt plantations, both for volume growth and wood properties, and also for drought tolerance and disease resistance.

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