Tropical Forest Update

Home Resources Advancing forestry education in the Congo Basin

Advancing forestry education in the Congo Basin

Mastering the forestry profession has never been a mere walk in the (forest) park, but meeting the needs of sustainable forest development is an increasingly complex task. In addition to traditional fields such as forest ecology, mensuration, planning and economics, foresters must now embrace integrated landscape approaches, participatory forest management, new technologies and climate change.

An ITTO study conducted in five countries in the Congo Basin more than a decade ago concluded that there was a shortage of personnel with the qualifications needed to ensure sustainable forest development in the subregion. Several ITTO projects have since been undertaken to address this, culminating in a subregional project conducted between 2012 and 2019 encompassing seven main beneficiary education institutions across five countries. The project contributed to several of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially SDG 4 (quality education); this edition of the TFU presents some of its results.

Contents

  • From the Executive Director

     by Dieterle
    Upgrading forest-sector education and training in Africa is essential for ensuring sustainable forest management, efficient domestic processing, and sustainable supply chains.

  • The imperative of forest education in Africa

     by Amanubo
    A next-generation forester says that change is urgently needed to boost the quality of higher forestry learning.

  • Teaching at the heart of SFM

     by Kachaka and Nkwinkwa
    A regional-scale ITTO project has boosted forestry education in the Congo Basin.

  • National Forestry School, Cameroon

     by Sadeu, Seka and Mbock
    The regional ITTO project has enabled this school in Mbalmayo to upgrade its education programme by increasing staff capacity and acquiring new field equipment and buildings.

  • University of Dschang, Cameroon

     by Temgoua, Oyono and Tchamba
    Assistance from the subregional ITTO project is enabling the university to provide students with greatly improved classroom and fieldbased learning.

  • National School of Agronomy and Forestry, Congo

     by N’Zala
    The subregional ITTO project has enabled the school to upgrade its field equipment, establish new buildings and brighten prospects for forest education.

  • Regional Postgraduate School, DRC

     by Diansambu
    The subregional project has added to the school’s capacity to provide postgraduate degrees and ongoing training.

  • National School of Water and Forests, Gabon

     by Nkoumakali
    The subregional project has helped modernize the school with new equipment and buildings.

  • The evolving legality-based timber trade

     by Storck and Oliver
    ITTO’s Independent Market Monitor project presents its latest annual report on trade between the European Union and countries engaged in voluntary partnership agreements.

  • Market trends

     by Chipeta
    Dreaming to industrialize: how can Africa achieve its long postponed forest industry ambitions?

  • Pandemic pandemonium in the tropical timber sector

     by ITTO Secretariat
    Measures to contain COVID-19 are having devastating impacts on the tropical timber sector.

  • Meetings

Full edition

The ITTO Tropical Forest Update is published quarterly in English, French and Spanish.
The French and Spanish editions are usually posted about one month after the English.

Download
Also available at 'Get 'Get

Content does not necessarily reflect the views or policies of ITTO. ITTO holds the copyright to all photos unless otherwise stated. Articles may be reprinted without charge providing the Tropical Forest Update and author are credited and the editor notified (tfu@itto.int).