The limitedsupplyofhighqualityplantingmaterialsforawidespeciesbaseisamajorreasonforthe
limited successofreforestationprogrammesorprojectsinmanydevelopingcountries.Thispaperreports
the researchthatwasundertakentoimprovethesupplyofhighqualityplantingmaterialsforagro-
forestry, treefarmingandreforestationinthePhilippines.Asystemsapproachwasusedtoidentify
mechanisms toimprovetheoperationaleffectivenessoftheforestnurserysector.ABayesianBeliefNet-
work oftheforestnurserysectorwasdevelopedtoexaminetheinteractionsbetweenthekeycomponents
of theforestnurserysector,identifykeyleveragepointsforinterventionandexplorepotentialimpactsof
possible policyinterventions.Althoughimprovingtheoperationaleffectivenessofindividual,communal
and governmentnurserieswillresultinhighoperationaleffectivenessoftheforestnurserysector,the
operational effectivenessofgovernmentnurseriesislikelytohaveanegativeimpactonthemarketfor
seedlings fromsmallholdernurseriesi.e.individualandcommunalnurseries,thusimpedingthesus-
tainability ofsmallholdernurseries.Increasingthesupplyofhighqualitygermplasmforawidevariety
of species,improvingthetechnicalcapabilitiesofsmallholdernurseryoperatorsinseedlingproduction
and increasingthemarketdemandofhighqualityseedlingsfromsmallholdernurseriesarethemost
important requirementsforimprovingtheoperationaleffectivenessoftheforestnurserysector.How-
ever, governmentnurseriescanplayacrucialroleinimprovingtheeffectivenessoftheforestnursery
sector bydiversifyingtheirproductiontofocusonspeciesthatareindemandbysmallholderfarmers
and whichcannotbesuppliedbyindividualorcommunalnurseries.Failingtodothiswillresultinthe
current situationcontinuinginwhichgovernmentnurserysectorcompeteswithprivateandcommunal
nurseries.