MOU with ERAIFT (the French acronym for the Regional Post-Graduate Training School on Tropical Fores

Date：2017-02-17

ERAIFT, like HIST, is a UNESCO Category 2 Centre and is funded by the DRC Government and the European Union. HIST aims to contribute to capacity building and research on African World Heritage sites, biosphere reserves and global geoparks, particularly because UNESCO assigns the highest priority to Africa among the various global regions. Progress has been slow due to reasons beyond HIST’s control and are explained in the annual reports of HIST Secretariat submitted to the Governing Board in 2014 and 2015.

However, discussions undertaken during the Huangshan Dialogue 2, convened in Huangshan, Anhui Province, China in September 2016 where the Director of ERAIFT was one of the speakers have led to an agreement that HIST/ERAIFT collaboration should start by focusing on the Garamba National Park and World Heritage site and the Luki Biosphere Reserve of DRC. Communications concerning the modalities of research collaboration is under discussion and work will begin in 2017.