Precision forestry
Tree breeding
What is tree breeding and why does it matter for sustainable forestry
At RGE’s forestry companies, APRIL and Bracell, tree breeding plays a foundational role in our pursuit of sustainable, high-performance forestry. This enables us to meet growing global demand for sustainably produced pulp and paper products, while also ensuring that our operations remain environmentally responsible and resilient in the face of climate change.
Through a combination of traditional silviculture practices and advanced research and development, we continuously work to enhance the productivity, adaptability, and quality of our plantations. This approach allows us to deliver consistent results for our customers while preserving the health and longevity of the forest ecosystems in which we operate.
Along with pest management and supply chain optimisation, tree breeding also helps us deliver on our sustainability goals, such as the APRIL2030 target to increase plantation productivity by 50 per cent. As of 2024 productivity was up by 12 per cent due in part to the work of our tree breeding team.
Our tree breeding programme, conducted at our Tissue Culture Lab at APRIL and in the field, involves several components:
- Genetic Screening: Identifying disease resistance and desirable traits in plants
- Clonal Propagation: Producing clones of the best-performing genetic material for consistent outcomes
- Species and Site Matching: Choosing the right trees for the environmental conditions in specific areas
- Genomic Selection: Using molecular tools to fast-track improvements
Each of these components contributes to our overarching mission: to cultivate forest resources that are scientifically optimised, economically competitive, and environmentally sustainable.
Our methods
Genetic screening
Before any tree is considered for commercial planting, it must first pass rigorous genetic and health assessments. Genetic screening and careful forestry planning enables our teams to evaluate trees for their resistance to pests and diseases, tolerance to environmental stress, and overall growth performance.
At APRIL’s Tissue Culture Lab in Kerinci, Riau, acacia and eucalyptus tree saplings are monitored for their response to humidity, temperature, lighting, and more.
By identifying trees with superior genetic traits – such as faster growth rates, higher pulp yields, and greater resilience – we put together an elite pool of plant parents for clonal propagation, ensuring that future generations inherit their strengths.
Clonal propagation
Once superior genetic material has been identified, it’s essential to replicate it reliably and efficiently. Our clonal propagation programmes allow us to produce genetically identical copies of our best-performing trees at scale. At APRIL’s Tissue Culture Lab, around 50 million eucalyptus and acacia seedlings are produced annually through asexual reproduction. As the trees are already exhibiting carefully selected and desirable traits, no genetic modification is required or used in this process.
After two decades of research, APRIL has successfully established the world’s first acacia clonal plantation, marking a scientific milestone in clonal forestry research.
This programme ensures uniformity across our plantations, which streamlines forestry management, improves harvesting efficiency, and enables us to meet diverse customer needs at scale.
Species and site matching
One of the most important principles in sustainable forestry is ensuring that each tree is matched to the environment where it will perform the best. Differences in soil composition, climate, and altitude can significantly impact tree health and yield.
Adhering to traditional silviculture best practices, we pair each tree with the conditions it’s naturally suited for. This maximises productivity while minimising the need for chemical interventions such as fertilisers or pesticides. In addition, we maintain genetic diversity within each plantation by planting a mix of clones. This approach also helps to reduce the risk of disease outbreaks and increase the ecosystem’s resilience.
Dynamic genomic selection
Traditional tree breeding methods rely on observing how plants will perform over time, which is an effective but slow method. At RGE, we use genomic tools to analyse a plant’s DNA and predict how it will perform long before it reaches maturity.
This method, known as genomic selection, allows us to rapidly identify trees with the most promising traits – such as high wood density, optimal fibre characteristics, and stress tolerance. This enables us to respond swiftly to changing environmental and market demands by dynamically selecting the most favourable traits to propagate.
At APRIL, a 270-person Fibre Research and Development team is constantly monitoring and studying the best genetic makeups to handle the changing conditions of the field. This allows us to react swiftly to environmental events such as flooding, pest occurrence, wind speeds, and also weather the more long-term effects of climate change.