North Carolina State University, private forest industry, and government agencies around the world formed the Camcore Cooperative in 1980. Soon, our membership will include private citizens that share our concern for gene conservation. Camcore members have established approximately 2500 ha of genetic field trials and conservation banks around the world and have the world’s largest genetic base of tropical and subtropical pines native to Mexico and Central America, non-Australian eucalypts and Gmelina. The member companies perform all the field work at their facilities while the Camcore staff coordinate the members’ projects and visit the companies to monitor progress, consult on new projects, and participate in regional meetings. Click here for additional information on services provided to members by the staff
Core Staff – a small group of well-qualified faculty and technicians in the Department of Forestry, North Carolina State University and Guatemala City who coordinate conservation and tree domestication activities.
Cooperative Active Members – Forest private sector and government agencies around the world who provide funds for collections and land for species conservation and trials
Cooperative Associate Members – Forest private sector, government agencies, Foundations, conservation groups who provide funds as patrons of the program.
Institutional Honorary Members – Governmental agencies located in collection areas who facilitate the collecting and handling of seeds and pollen.
Individual Members – Private citizens who are concerned about the conservation of tropical and subtropical forests.
Camcore History
In the late 1970s, Bruce Zobel (North Carolina State University), Carl Gallegos (then International Paper Company), Willy Mittak (then Food and Agriculture Organization) and Jesse Perry (retired, Rockefeller Foundation) decided to form an international organization dedicated to the conservation of tropical and subtropical trees in México and Central America. Dr. Mittak and Mr. Perry had years of experience in the region as forest taxonomists, and Drs. Zobel and Gallegos had important links to forest industry around the world.
An organization called Camcore (Central America and Mexico Coniferous Resources Cooperative) was formed in 1980 and made part of the Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources at North Carolina State University. It was unique in that the driving force behind its development was the private forest sector. Camcore demonstrates that the private sector, in collaboration with government agencies and universities, can make substantial contributions to tree breeding, conservation and environmental stewardship, while providing economically sound forest management. Camcore has also attracted the support of Foundations and granting agencies to assist with its conservation work.
Camcore makes seed collections in threatened forest stands and then plants these on members’ land in more protected areas in genetic field trials (called progeny tests) and conservation areas (called ex situ conservation banks or parks) with similar climates in countries around the world. Camcore professionals in Raleigh analyze the data from the progeny trials and produce annual summaries to help members decide on what to grow. In 1980, Camcore had five founding members: Smurfit Kappa Cartón de Colombia, Aracruz Florestal (Brazil), International Paper Company (USA), the Weyerhaeuser Company (USA), and the National Seed Bank in Guatemala. Membership has grown to include 42 active, associate and honorary members on four continents.
Camcore seed collections expanded from Central America and Mexico to include Southeast Asia in 1994, the southern US in 2003 and Australia in 2010. Our program is now working with 50 different forest species and has sampled 11,000 trees in 500 locations. It has more than 2,500 hectares of genetic trials and conservation areas. It has the largest database on tropical and subtropical pines and non-Australian eucalypts in the world. Because of its international scope of activities, Camcore is now known as the “International Tree Breeding and Conservation Program.”