From October 27 to 31, 2025, the Regional Post-University School of Integrated Forest and Territorial Planning and Management, ERAIFT, a Category 2 center under the auspices of UNESCO, welcomes on its campus located at the University of Kinshasa, the 40 students of the 7th cohort of its regional master's program for the academic start this Monday, November 3, 2025.

This cohort consists of 40 learners from 11 countries, including Benin, Cameroon, the Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic, Gabon, Guinea, Niger, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Togo, Chad, and Senegal. Among them, 9 are women, making up about 23% of the group. The 7th cohort runs simultaneously with the 6th, whose members are participating in a three-month immersion internship in the humid tropical rainforests of Odzala Kokoua Lossi National Park (PNOKL) in the Republic of Congo, gaining practical experience through hands-on learning.

This diploma's professional training begins with a common core during the first year of the master's program, where students learn the fundamentals of the systemic approach—ERAIFT's pedagogical and conceptual base. This approach is interdisciplinary, intersectoral, participatory, and embodies a comprehensive, integrated perspective, spanning November 2025 to October 2026 (semesters 1 and 2). The second year emphasizes specialization in semester 3 and the final thesis or project (TFE) in semester 4. Notably, specialization involves regional mobility at ERAIFT partner institutions, such as the Garoua Wildlife School (EFG, Cameroon) for the 'Protected Areas and Biosphere Reserves Management' (GAP/GRB) track, or the CRESA Forest-Wood (University of Dschang, Cameroon), or in managed forest concessions for the Forest Management Techniques (TAF) option. These programs are recognized by the African and Malagasy Council for Higher Education (CAMES).

On Thursday, November 6, 2025, at 2:00 PM, the ERAIFT conference room will host the public defense of doctoral candidate Bamenga Bopoko Lousi-Pasteur's thesis. The thesis, titled “Socio-economic Evaluation of Robusta Coffee (Coffea canephora Pierre ex A. Froehner) (Rubiaceae) in Tshopo Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC): Status and Potential,” analyzes perceptions among agents about their activities, assesses the impact of investments in the coffee sector and related environmental effects, and examines the governance framework of coffee production, focusing on institutional interactions, social benefits, and challenges. The study provides insights into revitalizing this sector in Tshopo Province.

ERAIFT thanks the Kingdom of Belgium for funding this research through grant B2/191/P1/CoffeBridge, and the Meise Botanical Garden for its collaboration. Finally, ERAIFT extends gratitude to its entire supervisory team.

The ERAIFT is organizing a capacity-building training on sustainable agricultural and forestry value chain analysis from October 21 to 24, 2025. Led by the Director of ERAIF, Professor Baudouin Michel and PhD student Patrick Minyangu, this session will mainly focus on the functional, financial, and economic analysis of these chains. The pedagogical approach combines theoretical foundations with practical activities based on real case studies and field visits.

ERAIFT thanks all participants for their trust. ERAIFT also thanks the European Union and all its partners for their ongoing support.

The Director of ERAIFT, Professor Baudouin Michel, took part in the forum 'The Role of Universities in Developing the Ecosystem of a Learning City,' organized by the University of Liège as part of the UNESCO project Liège Learning City. This event gathered a network of learning cities, political leaders, UNESCO representatives, along with academic and scientific staff from the University of Liège and other institutions in the Wallonia-Brussels Federation. Since signing the MOU to strengthen scientific collaboration between ERAIFT, a UNESCO Category 2 Center, and the University of Liège, especially with the Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech Faculty, relations have remained excellent.

ERAIFT expresses its gratitude to the University of Liège and particularly to Dr. Boutheina Ben Lamine for the invitation and warm reception.  L’ERAIFT thanks UNESCO for its support and trust since 1999. 

From September 29 to October 2, 2025, the Regional Postgraduate School of Integrated Management of Tropical Forests and Territories (ERAIFT) took part in a training workshop on scientific writing held in Brazzaville. The event was jointly organized by the Applied Research Program in Ecology and Social Sciences for the Sustainable Management of Central African Forest Ecosystems (RESSAC) and the Central African Forest Research Network (R2FAC).

This continuing training session brought together researchers from universities and research centers across several Central African countries around three key themes: scientific article writing, authorship responsibilities, and publication strategies.

Participants engaged in practical exercises, received methodological guidance, and were provided with comprehensive reference materials to help them improve the quality of their manuscript projects.

ERAIFT extends its sincere thanks to RESSAC, R2FAC, CIFOR-ICRAF, and CIRAD for this fruitful collaboration aimed at strengthening the scientific communication and research ethics skills of young researchers in Central Africa. The institution also expresses its gratitude to the European Union for its continued support and renewed trust.