Institute of Tropical Forest Conservation

"To develop or improve capacity to identify, assess and anticipate changes in the Greater Virunga Landscape and beyond. Specific efforts will be made to develop effective local and international partnerships and alliances to be able to evaluate, anticipate and prepare for ‘new’ challenges including climate change, population trends and the changing demands on natural resources. "

In this context, the long term monitoring for which ITFC is known, will be maintained, results evaluated and lessons learned shared.

A range of new pilot studies and activities will be developed as well, to identify, characterize and evaluate emerging threats, as well as new opportunities for conservation in the region and increase the ability of local managers and other partners to better anticipate and respond to these changes along with any surprises that may occur.

The following themes are selected for new investigations:

Adaptation and Climate change (for example altitudinal zonation; how will it change with climate change? Where can endemic plants and animals find refuge?)
Mitigation and Climate Change (for example REDD opportunities: forest carbon dynamics, assess carbon in afro-alpine peat (Mgahinga, Rwenzori, Virungas), improving landscape connectivity, and providing corridors for species to move to better climates)
Additional biophysical threats (for example CO₂ and how ecosystems respond, loss of large herbivores, invasive species)
Socio-economic threats and opportunities, and people’s perceptions (for example understanding impacts of changing patterns of population growth and socio-economic trends on demands for forest resources, who is benefiting and who is loosing and why?).

In July 2009 ITFC selected six Masters' students to work on some of the above themes with support from a grant from the MacArthur Foundation. In 2010 we will select three more.