Progress through research

The tropical rainforests still hold a lot of potential for future-oriented research. As an example, we have participated for many years in a large, transnational project to research the forest dynamics in the Congo Basin. The current project phase, DynafFor », is being conducted in part on large areas of our Gabon concession. In Brazil, we maintain a network of permanent research plots in order to study the long-term dynamics of the forest in detail.

Research and science are also of very practical importance for us, because they help us to verify and further develop our strict requirements for gentle, sustainable, and certified forestry. For example, scientists have already been able to prove that gentle and certified forest management has a positive influence on the gorilla population.

One of the most important aspects of research for us is the training of young scientific staff. In Gabon, for example, students are researching the possibilities of optimising our transport routes in order to generate an environmental and economic advantage. Other young researchers deal intensively with the possibilities of better understanding the animal populations and their dynamics, so as to optimise our wildlife protection measures.

In Brazil, the research conducted by young scientists includes the dynamics of forest growth and the possibilities of optimising forest growth and carbon models. Numerous final theses and dissertations have already been written on this topic. These commitments require a significant amount of human and financial resources. We are happy to take on these investments, given that we believe in social, environmental, and economic progress through research.

Our research partners

We regularly work together with the following institutions and organisations dedicated to research in tropical rainforests:

Brazil

• Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária (EMBRAPA), federal research institute
• Universidade do Estado do Amazonas (UEA), Amazonas State University
• Universidade Federal do Amazonas (UFAM), Federal University of Amazonas

Gabon

• Université des sciences et techniques de Masuku (USTM), state University
• École Nationale des Eaux et Forêts, national forestry University

Europe

• Berner Fachhochschule – School of Agriculture, Forest and Food Sciences (HAFL), Schwitzerland
• University of Liège – Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech (GxABT), Belgium
• Nature+, Belgium, NGO, reasearch on sustainable forestry

We are also linked with several other >governmental and non-governmental organisations and have carried out projects with various other organisations in the past. We will always continue to be open to new partners and innovative research projects.