International Rice Research Institute, P. O. Box 933, Manila, Philippines
To appropriately conserve wild relatives of rice, a combination of in-situ and ex-situ conservation is essential. During recent international collecting missions to sample wild genetic resources of rice, a number of protected habitats where populations of these wild species grow naturally have been identified (Table 1). In many cases, the habitats though protected from development are not protected from disturbance and the knowledge of these potentially useful genetic resources has, where possible, been brought to the attention of the appropriate park or forest wardens, Other protected sites, specifically for wild rice, have been reported to the author in the Plain of Reeds, Vietnam and northern populations of wild rice near Dongxiang, China.
To date, most of the Oryza species found in Asia are known to occur in one or more protected habitats. An exception is Oryza minuta which has only been
Table 1. Protected habitats in Asia where wild relatives of rice have been found growing naturally between 1987 and 1990.
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Country Conserved area Species
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India Bhoothathankettu Forest Reserve, Kerala Oryza rufipogon
Parambikulam Game Reserve,Kerala O. officinalis
O. granulata
Karulai Range Teak Plantation/Forest Reserve, O. nivara
Kerala O. granulata
O.malampuzhaensis
Simlipal National Wildlife Park, Orissa O. nivara
O.granulata
O.officinalis
Indonesia Ujung Kulon National Park O.officinalis
Guneng Leuser Nature Reserve,Aceh/N. Sumatra O.meyeriana
SriLanka Ritigala Strict Natural Reserve O.eichingeri
Wilapattu National Park O.rhizomatis
Yala National Park O.nivara
O.rhizomatis
Ruhuna Wildlife Sanctuary O.nivara
O.rhizomatis
Hygroryza aristata
Polonnaruwa,ruins of ancient capital O. nivara
H. aristata
Thailand Pukae Botanic Garden near Saraburi O.officinalis
Mae Sae Valley Forest Reserve and Botanic O.granulata
Garden near Chiang Mae
Tony Nga Chang Park near Haadyai O. ridleyi
Khao Sam Lan National Park near Saraburi O.officinalis
O.ridleyi
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correctly reported from the Philippines. One population of this species,
vulnerable to destruction, is the only known site where O. minuta is
sympatric with its diploid relative O. officinalis near Tacloban, Leyte.
This population deserves special consideration as a site for eco-genetic
studies and in-situ conservation. In addition, lack of strategically placed
sites to conserve in-situ wild/weedy/cultivated populations, which are
genetically dynamic, is of concern to those conserving this germplasm.