More than 100 experts gathered in Dar es Salaam to draw up a joint research, education and policy plan for sustainable forest management.
Russia is looking for, and finding, mechanisms to offset the sanctions imposed on it. New models of cooperation are being used to that end, which the Russians are building up in many parts of the world in the forest sector as well. The recently opened Centre of Excellence for Forest Science and Education in Dar es Salaam is the result of 18 months of Russian-Tanzanian cooperation, positioning forest science as a catalyst for economic growth and environmental resilience.
More than 100 forestry scientists, educators and policymakers from Russia and Tanzania met in Dar es Salaam at the end of September to set up a new Centre of Excellence for Forest Science and Education, the latest joint undertaking by the two countries in strengthening their economic ties.
At the conference, which was the culmination of months of cooperation between the Russian and Tanzanian research communities, a joint strategy for research, training and policy reform was announced. Nizami Mamishev, Deputy Chairman of the St Petersburg Committee for External Relations and Head of External Economic Cooperation, officially opened the centre, highlighting the partnership as a model for combining cutting-edge science with practical forestry.
The head of the Tanzanian delegation, Siima Salome Samson Bakengesa, an official of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism, presented new, improved protocols to secure sustainable logging; Jared Ely Otieno of the Tanzania Forest Services Agency demonstrated modern remote sensing methods for monitoring resources in real time; Grayson Zabron Nyamoga of Sokoine University of Agriculture established the economic value of ecosystem services – carbon storage, water regulation and pollination – while Celestino Peter Balama of the Tanzania Forestry Research Institute set out in detail the measures being taken to protect 10,000 native plant species.
Tanzania's forests provide carbon storage, water regulation and pollination on a scale now valued at almost 20% of the country's GDP. This forms the foundation for the energy, agriculture and tourism sectors.
In the sessions that followed, Russian and Tanzanian experts tested Russian-developed carbon accounting models on Tanzania's vast forests, compared community management approaches and identified policy instruments for scaling up successful innovations. The summit closed with the adoption of a joint research programme on sustainable management, ecosystem valuation and the involvement of local communities, to be complemented by planned student and teaching staff exchanges and funding from both governments.
The organisers say the centre of excellence will accelerate joint advances in forest science, boost the global competitiveness of Russian and Tanzanian specialists, and turn forests into a driving force for sustainable economic growth and environmental resilience.