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Commonwealth
Forests | | |
 Networking
Traditionally, a large number of professional foresters in the Commonwealth were trained by
the University of Oxford. However, with the decline and eventual demise of forestry as an
academic subject at that university, there have been questions raised about a successor.
Disappointingly, there has been little interest in filling the gap. Many universities are hampered
by local forestry accreditation requirements, a system that has ensured that traditional
standards are maintained but which have often resulted in priority being given to local issues.
A notable exception is the School of International Tropical Forestry at the Universiti Malaysia
Sabah. This school offers undergraduate degree programmes in ‘International Tropical
Forestry’, ‘Nature Parks and Recreation’, ‘Forest Plantation and Agroforestry’ and ‘Wood Fibre
Industry and Technology’, and an MSc in Agroforestry. It specifically caters to international
students.
In a move reminiscent of the origins of professional forestry education in the Commonwealth,
curriculum development is receiving considerable support from the Deutsche Gesellschaft für
Technische Zusammenarbeit GmbH (the overseas development agency of Germany).
Some schools have succeeded in adopting a leadership role in the professional education of
foresters, such as the forestry programmes offered in South African universities (principally the
University of Stellenbosch, but with new programmes emerging in other universities, such as
the University of KwaZulu-Natal). The University of KwaZulu-Natal in particular is attempting to
fulfil a regional need by organising International Forestry Schools. For countries such as
Swaziland and Lesotho, this may be one of the few opportunities for professional forestry
education.
There have been some interesting networking opportunities that have developed. For example,
using the Canadian University partnerships in Cooperation and Development Programme, the
Centre for Advanced Wood Processing at the University of British Columbia, Canada, has
teamed up with Stellenbosch University and Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University to deliver
first-degree educational programmes in value-added wood processing. A specific objective of
this programme is to strengthen partnership between South Africa’s forestry educational
institutions and the private sector and the communities they serve, and increase the
educational opportunities for persons from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Outside South Africa, several forestry schools in Africa, including the University of Ibadan
(Nigeria), Makerere University (Uganda) and Sokoine University of Agriculture (Tanzania)
played important roles in educating foresters from a number of countries in the 1970s and
1980s, but the level of international recruitment at each of these institutions has declined since
the 1990s (Temu et al.. 2006). Similarly, the degree of cooperation between the various
forestry schools has declined, and efforts to revive cooperation and coordination have met with
mixed success (Kiyiapi 2004).
A special case that deserves mention is the Reseau des Institutions de Formation Forestière
et Environnementale d’Afrique Centrale (RIFFEAC). This francophone network of Central
African forestry training institutions includes the University of Dschang in Cameroon, and
appears to have been reasonably successful in promoting cooperation in forestry education in
the region (Kiyiapi 2004). However, like many such programmes, it suffers from inadequate
resourcing.
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