On Saturday, February 25, 2023, the Director of ERAIFT, Baudouin Michel and Mr. Joel Gamys, Executive Director of the Forestry Training Institute (FTI) of Liberia, had a working session in Monrovia. Mr Joel Gamys is a former excellent student of ERAIFT and an active member of RADDI. Both Directors examined the possibilities of cooperation between ERAIFT and FTI and scheduled the next visit of the ERAIFT Director to FTI. ERAIFT thanks the FTI Executive Director for his warm welcome to Liberia.
ERAIFT's Director, a Category 2 Centre under the auspices of UNESCO, Rector of IFA-Yangambi and Special Envoy of African Parks Network was hosted at UNESCO on Thursday 16 February 2023. Very successful exchanges were held with the World Heritage and the Man and Biosphere Programme. This meeting strengthened the relationship between ERAIFT and UNESCO as well as the relationship between UNESCO and IFA-Yangambi, a key actor in the Yangambi landscape. ERAIFT and IFA Yangambi thank UNESCO for the invitation and the hospitality.
On Tuesday 14 February, upon the invitation of Professor Jean-Louis Doucet, the Director of ERAIFT, Rector of IFA-YANGAMBI and Special Envoy of African Parks Network presented to the students registered in Master 1 "Forestry" at Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech a presentation retracing the 23 years of African Parks Network (APN)'s experience in Public-Private Partnerships (PPP), which manages 22 Protected Areas in 12 sub-Saharan African countries.
APN and ERAIFT would like to take this opportunity to thank Professor Doucet sincerely for his invitation.
On Thursday, February 9, 2023, Professor Baudouin MICHEL, Director of ERAIFT and Rector of IFA-YANGAMBI organized a working session with the dynamic animator of the JOB DAY of ERAIFT and Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech in 2021, Mr. Patrick Gaincko. Due to the great success of the ERAIFT JOB DAY in 2021, the next ERAIFT and IFA-YANGAMBI JOB DAY will be held in June 2023 in Kinshasa and Kisangani respectively. ERAIFT and IFA-Yangambi thank Patrick Gaincko for his highly appreciated support.
This Tuesday, February 14, Professor Pierre Duysinx, Vice-Rector in charge of Mobility and International of the University of Liege, hosted in Liege the Director of ERAIFT and Rector of IFA-Yangambi, Professor Baudouin MICHEL.
The discussions focused on the prospects of cooperation between national and regional Congolese institutions and the University of Liege, and on the synergies with the PACODEL platform based at the ERAIFT on the UNIKIN campus. ERAIFT and IFA-Yangambi thank Vice-Rector Pierre Duysinx for his availability and attentive listening.
On Thursday 9 February, Professor Baudouin Michel, Director of ERAIFT and Rector of IFA-Yangambi, visited the Ghent University (UGENT) upon invitation by the UGENT ( Faculty of Bioscience Engineering) and Gembloux Agro_Bio Tech (University of Liege) academic authorities.
The discussions focused on strengthening future cooperation between the 4 institutions (UGENT (Faculty of Bioscience Engineering), Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech (ULIEGE), IFA-Yangambi and ERAIFT) in Belgium, Democratic Republic of Congo and the Yangambi landscape. ERAIFT thanks UGENT and Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech for the invitation.
The Director of ERAIFT, Professor Baudouin Michel, together with Dr. Ludivine Lassois and Barbara Haurez (Uliège), is currently in Lodja (Sankuru province) within the DESIRA-AGRO-FOREST project.
This 7-day mission is part of the specific cooperation agreement signed between the University of Liège and ENABEL concerning the scientific support of the DESIRA-AGRO-FORÊT project in the agronomic and forestry fields. It aims to analyze the context of the intervention of the above mentioned project in Sankuru and to identify the research-action topics foreseen in the second phase of the above mentioned cooperation agreement.
Specifically, the three international experts will (1) identify existing and future interventions related to the above-mentioned project; (2) assess the potential of the intervention area (territories, actors); (3) meet the team and the main partners related to the management of project activities; (4) identify the capacity reinforcement needs of the teams and partners on the basic principles of carbon-neutral’s development or carbon-positive agro-ecological and agro-forestry models.
ERAIFT thanks the University of Liege and ENABEL for the cooperation and the renewed confidence
Campus UNIKIN - BP 15373 - Kinshasa - Commune de Lemba - RD Congo