The Global Tree Seed Bank Programme is securing some of our planet's most threatened, rare and useful tree species. Funded by the Garfield Weston Foundation and coordinated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (RGB, Kew) , the programme aims to collect and store seeds of more than 5,000 of the world's tree species. In Thailand, under the third phase of the project, FORRU-CMU worked in partnership with the Bangkok Forestry Herbarium (BKF) to collect and conserve seeds of 300 native species. 
Using the conservation assessments from this project, we are working with RBG Kew, BKF and NBT to co-author a paper on the status and conservation of Thailand's rare or threatened, endemic tree species, to support development of a nationwide system to collect their seeds and conserve them, by encouraging their inclusion in forest restoration plantings.
Latest news: this project was recently extended into a 4th phase (2024-26) and given a fresh name: The Global Tree Seed Bank: Unlocked. During this phase, FORRU-CMU will be involved in i) assessing the genetic structure of framework species populations; ii) assessing the supply and demand for seeds of framework tree species for restoration projects in Thailand; iii) determining the thermotolerance of framework species seeds (to build climate-change resilience into seed selection procedures), iv) developing planting-stock propagation procedures for data-deficient species and v) assisting Mount Ciremai National Park authority to establish their own FORRU in Indonesia. The project is providing 3 full scholarships to CMU students to address these topics in their MSc and PhD projects.
For information about the Millennium Seed Bank and the The Global Tree Seed Bank Programme , please contact Dr. Kate Hardwick
Kew scholarship students, Sorayuth and Nattanit, work with FORRU's database manager, Dr. Greuk Pakkad, to select suitable species for studying seed thermotolerance and data-deficient species.
