A delegation from the Regional Postgraduate School of Integrated Management of Tropical Forests and Territories (ERAIFT), led by its Director, Professor Baudouin Michel, and accompanied by Professor Lucie Temgoua, carried out an official mission to UNESCO Headquarters in Paris from 19 to 21 November 2025.

The purpose of the visit was to introduce the future Director of ERAIFT, Professor Lucie Temgoua, to UNESCO, with a view to ensuring institutional continuity and strengthening the strategic partnership with the Organisation’s scientific programmes. More broadly, the mission aimed to discuss the process and the technical and institutional requirements for the renewal of ERAIFT’s status as a UNESCO Category 2 Centre, as well as to identify new opportunities for collaboration in training, research and capacity building in the Congo Basin.

The delegation was received by the Division of Ecological and Earth Sciences, the Secretariat of the Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme, the Disaster Risk Reduction Section, the Intergovernmental Hydrological Programme (IHP), and the representative of the UNESCO Regional Office for Central Africa.

ERAIFT wishes to express its sincere gratitude to all UNESCO teams for their warm welcome, the richness of the discussions and their continued support for the School’s development. This mission marks an important milestone in strengthening cooperation with UNESCO and reaffirms ERAIFT’s strategic role in training and research for the sustainable management of tropical forests and territories in French- and Portuguese-speaking countries in Africa.