The main theme of this ceremony was “the challenges and problems concerning the conservation of biodiversity and the sustainable management of natural resources in the Congo Basin”. Speakers from different institutions, including the University of Kinshasa, the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, CB–HYDRONET, the Department of Natural Resources Management, the WWF and the student committee, presented the challenges and issues that threaten the biodiversity conservation and management of natural resources in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The figure below highlights the highlights of this launch ceremony.

Results

Through interactive exchanges between stakeholders, the following challenges were addressed:

• Lack of information in the student community regarding REDD+ process initiatives with emphasis on practices to mitigate climate change threats to natural resources such as water;

• Mobilization of financial, material and technical resources;

• Land allocation planning to avoid conflicts of interest linked to overlapping activities;

• Improved economic initiatives for green development.

Recommendations

The recommendations were formulated as follows:

• Considering the forum framework as a means of making natural resource management actions and initiatives visible to help students and researchers address real research problems;

• Develop and diversify environmentally friendly activities;

• Establish appropriate forest monitoring mechanisms.