Kisangani, 29 April 2019 – The University of Kisangani (UNIKIS) and the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) kicked off the 6th Science Week in Kisangani, Democratic Republic of the Congo. This academic event will offer students at the Faculty of Science an opportunity to increase their knowledge in sustainable forest management.
With the contribution of around 20 international experts, MSc and PhD students will attend five days of seminars on biodiversity conservation, the logging industry, fuelwood value chains and sustainable wildlife management. The Science Week is expected to facilitate academic discussions, and give the opportunity to postgraduate students to present the progress they have made in their dissertations.
“The Science Week, which has already become a tradition at the UNIKIS, welcomes the world’s top experts on the conservation of the Congo Basin”, said Prof. Benoît Dhed’a Djailo, Rector of the University of Kisangani, at the inaugural ceremony held on 29 April. “It helps our students enrich their knowledge on various environmental topics and open their minds to different perspectives and disciplines”.
As part of this initiative, 12 journalists from across the country will also attend a training session on environmental journalism, in order to promote in-depth journalistic research on the economic, social, cultural and environmental value of forests.
“The first step to better manage DRC’s natural resources – and the broader Congo Basin – is training a new generation of specialists in tropical forests,” said Paolo Cerutti, CIFOR Senior Scientist. “This is why over the last ten years we have built a solid partnership with the UNIKIS that has benefited 220 postgraduate students, who will contribute to the sustainable development of their country.”
The Science Week is supported by CIFOR’s FORETS (Training, Research and Environment in the Tshopo Province) project, funded by the European Union. FORETS aims to build the capacities of Congolese researchers and to promote science as a driver of sustainable development.
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For more information, please contact:
Ms Ahtziri Gonzalez
Regional Communications Officer, CIFOR
E-mail: a.gonzalez@cgiar.org or WhatsApp : +237 680 800 382