Aims of The British and Irish Hardwoods Improvement Programme (BIHIP)

Background

The British and Irish Hardwoods Improvement Programme (BIHIP) is a collaborative association of landowners, research institutions, universities and professional foresters in Great Britain and Ireland who are actively attempting to improve the quality and performance of broadleaved species, currently ash, birch, cherry, oak, walnut, sweet chestnut, and sycamore.

Gains in recoverable volume of between 10% and 15% have been commonplace in the first generation of established tree improvement programmes elsewhere, and should be possible within Britain and Ireland. They have been achieved, in part, by selecting for vigour, in part for good form and, in some species, wood quality. All these characters contribute to the volume of usable timber that can be sold.

The methodologies being applied include, the establishment of provenance trials, progeny trials and clonal field trials. Many of these will result in the development of “breeding seedling orchards” which recent theoretical and empirical work has demonstrated to be a simple, robust and cheap approach to tree breeding, and at least as effective as any others. The methodology is based on the integration of breeding, testing and improved seed-producing populations.

Aims of BIHIP

The general aim of BIHIP is to work in collaboration with all sectors of the forestry industry towards the selection and provision of superior broadleaved tree genotypes for timber production.

• i) This involves the establishment of trials to:

  • provide genetic information to guide tree breeding;

  • produce improved seed for seedling afforestation and/ or material for clonal propagation;

• ii) identification of the individuals that will found the next breeding population;

• iii) transfer of improved material to the market place (where management could be by a commercial arm of BIHIP).