Tropical Workshops
Information about past and future tropical plant nursery workshops.
Pacific Island Tree Nursery Workshop
Guam, July-August 2019
Diane Haase (RNGR’s Western Nursery Specialist), J.B. Friday (Extension Forester, University of Hawaii), and Katie Friday (SPF’s Forest Stewardship Program Manager for Forest Service Region 5) organized a workshop for Pacific Island foresters and nursery managers. The workshop was held July 31 through August 2 at the University of Guam. Participants attended from eight Pacific islands: Guam, Palau, Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei, Rota, Saipan, and the Marshalls.
The nursery workshop was designed to help nurseries produce healthy seedlings for watershed protection, native forest restoration, agroforestry, riparian/coastal land stabilization, and urban beautification. Topics covered in the workshop were aimed toward assisting nurseries with meeting short- and long-term goals for environmental, economic, and social benefits. Specific topics included: defining target seedlings; nursery design and environment; seed collection, processing, and storage; container selection; growing media; plant propagation and culturing techniques; seedling quality and outplanting; planting in degraded soils; integrated pest management (IPM) – invasive species, pests, and diseases; and record keeping and project evaluation. Jim McConnell (University of Guam) and his staff spoke on the Guam Plant Extinction Prevention Program (GPEPP); Christine Fejeran from Guam Forestry spoke on protecting trees from wildfires, and Roland Quitugua (University of Guam) spoke on the coconut rhinoceros beetle and little fire ant.
In addition to classroom presentations and discussion, participants visited the GPEPP rare plant nursery and the Guam Forestry nursery. These visits gave an opportunity for onsite discussions about nursery design (ventilation, irrigation system, resistance to hurricane damage, shading, etc.) and daily operations (selection of growing medium, fertilization, containers, pest management, etc.). The group also visited restoration, agroforestry, and urban planting sites on island where they reviewed results of research projects and discussed various strategies to optimize field growth and survival given challenges at each planting site (erosion, poor soil nutrition, fire, etc.). At the conclusion of the workshop, participants generated goals for their respective islands based on material learned in the workshop and the specific needs for their nursery and outplanting programs.
Pacific Island Nursery Training Workshop
American Samoa, July 2012
Diane Haase (Western Nursery Specialist) in partnership with JB Friday (University of Hawaii, forestry extension) conducted a Pacific Island Nursery Training Workshop in American Samoa in July 2012. The purpose of the workshop was to help the forest nurseries in American Samoa produce healthy seedlings for reforestation, native forest restoration, agroforestry, riparian/coastal land stabilization, and urban beautification.
Topics included planning, plant propagation, nursery design, pest management, and outplanting success to meet their short- and long-term goals for environmental, economic, and social benefits. Attendees were genuinely pleased to increase their knowledge of quality plant production and look forward to applying new techniques and practices.
Additional workshops are planned for 2013 in Guam (and will also be for nursery and reforestation personnel from Palau and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands) and 2014 in Majuro for the Federated States of Micronesia and the Marshall Islands.
