The "Seed to Tree" project will bolster forest and landscape restoration in Malaysia, by enhancing the quality and availability of native tree seeds and seedlings, tailored to local conditions. It will also integrate indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLCs) into seed-value chains, thus promoting biodiversity conservation, carbon sequestration and economic empowerment.
Expected outputs include decision-support and monitoring tools, integration of IPLCs into restoration projects, and emergent partnerships within restoration value chains. Tools such as the "MyFarmTree " platform will enable monitoring and reporting on tree seed-collection quality.
The ultimate goal is that governments, the private sector and civil society will adopt these tools and approaches, in at least three other ASEAN countries, to conserve seed sources via collaborate with IPLCs. Such efforts will enhance tree species diversity in restoration initiatives and promote greater IPLC participation. The project will thus drive increased carbon sequestration, enhanced conservation value and improved habitat connectivity. It will also create jobs and incomes for at least 200 IPLC members (30% of whom are women) across 220,000 hectares within the expansive Central Forest Spine landscape.
The project is being implemented by the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT , in collaboration with Malaysia's Tropical Rainforest Conservation and Research Center (TRCRC) , with the Alliance contributing global research expertise, whilst TRCRC focuses on local conservation and forest restoration. The project is funded by the ASEAN-UK Green Transition Fund .
FORRU-CMU is contributing to this project by providing both nursery and field data on tree species that are common to both Thailand and Malaysia. Such data will inform development of species-selection models. The project is funding FORRU-CMU's data specialist, Dr. Greuk Pakkad, to review the unit's database, update it with results from recent field and nursery experiments and expand it to cover species traits and uses. The result will be a species-selection app (D4R) for both northern Thailand and Malaysia, which will match tree species with site/landscape conditions, whilst also meeting the needs and aspirations of local communities.