For decades, raulí has been recognized as one of Chile's most valuable native species due to the quality of its wood and its high commercial value. However, its productive development presents significant challenges: it has a limited geographic distribution, requires specific site conditions, and its flowering is highly irregular, which hinders constant seed production.
With the goal of expanding the productive potential of Chilean native forests, and particularly of raulí, researchers from the Faculty of Forest Sciences and Natural Resources of the Universidad Austral de Chile (UACh) developed vegetative propagation systems that made it possible to operationally scale up genetic material of this species. Those same technologies have been adapted to project a new alternative based on the raulí x oak hybrid and to move toward its massification with different productive and environmental objectives.
"The development of hybrids is something extremely interesting because it allows obtaining a virtuous combination of attributes that is not possible to achieve with pure species," explains Dr. Fernando Droppelmann F., executive director of the Cooperative for Forest Genetic Improvement (CMGF), former academic at UACh and leader of this line of research.
The researcher emphasizes that the current work is the result of decades of accumulated knowledge in forest genetic improvement. "Everything we have been able to do during these years is the product of the work previously developed in radiata pine and eucalyptus. If that development had not existed, everything we are doing today with these raulí x oak hybrids would not be anywhere near becoming a reality," he states.
Since 2010, the team has developed vegetative propagation technologies and controlled crosses that have made it possible to advance significantly in the genetic improvement of raulí and, more recently, in the study of these natural hybrids.
Genetic potential
Unlike other innovations in the forestry sector, this hybrid is not a species artificially created in a laboratory. Its origin is completely natural and occurs in sites where raulí and oak coexist in the forests of the Andes Mountains and, in some more restricted areas, of the Coastal Mountain Range.
When individuals of both species coincide in their flowering periods, natural crosses occur that give rise to hybrid specimens.
The researchers identified these hybrids by observing raulí individuals in the nursery with considerably higher growth than expected. In addition, those plants presented traits typical of both species and, in some cases, intermediate characteristics compared to pure specimens.
Subsequently, the team managed to reproduce these hybrids through controlled crosses, isolating raulí flowers and applying oak pollen from outstanding trees of both species.
The characteristics of these hybrids are particularly attractive from a productive and environmental standpoint.
"Oak has a much broader territorial distribution and an excellent growth rate, while raulí contributes better form, good health, and exceptional wood," notes the academic.
The combination of these attributes could allow the establishment of plantations in sites where raulí currently presents certain limitations. Likewise, it can contribute to the productive recovery of degraded areas of native forest and expand the alternatives for the sustainable management of native species.
Future outlook
The advances obtained during recent years are especially encouraging. Currently, the development program has more than 500 clones or hybrid varieties under field evaluation, distributed in trials established between Mulchén and southern Valdivia. In addition, numerous materials continue to be developed in the nursery to be validated in the field during the coming years.
The first results show growth rates higher than expected for native species.
"That many hybrids reach 6 meters between 4 and 5 years is something very notable. We have already recorded it in the first planted trials, but in more recent evaluations some materials exceeded 2 meters in height in just 5 months of growth —corresponding to a plantation carried out in September 2025 and measured in February 2026—. We are observing surprising growth rates when good genetic material is combined with intensive silviculture during establishment and initial maintenance. What we see is enormous potential; the big question is how far it can go. We are convinced that a new real forestry option is emerging, with a rotation cycle close to 25 years," comments Droppelmann.
Another relevant aspect is the industrial potential of the material. Raulí wood is highly valued for its excellent technological properties and its ease of industrial processing. In that context, the hybrids that bring together the best of both species will make it possible to develop forests with significant economic value.
The development of this hybrid also reflects the collaborative work promoted by the CMGF, which brings together UACh, public institutions, forestry companies, and private nurseries to promote applied research, development, and innovation aimed at generating new forestry alternatives for the country.
"The mission is to make these alternatives available to the entire country, so that each landowner can decide which species is the most suitable for their site conditions and their productive or environmental objectives," states the researcher.
In a scenario marked by climate change and the need to diversify forestry options, this hybrid can become an effective tool to combine productivity, territorial adaptation, and conservation of Chile's forestry heritage.
It is important to note that this hybrid development has been possible thanks to funding from the Foundation for Agrarian Innovation (FIA), the Regional Government of Los Ríos, through the Regional Corporation for Productive Development; the National Forest Corporation (CONAF); and the CMGF together with its associated forestry companies and nurseries.
From Acoforag we value this type of progress, which makes it possible to project a more diverse and sustainable future for the forestry sector, highlighting the contribution of science and innovation in the development of new alternatives for native forests and for those who work day by day in the country's forestry territories.
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