Blog

The Department of Conservation and Management of Renewable Natural Resources, part of the Sciences and Technologies domain at the University of GOMA (UNIGOM), continues its mission to train future specialists in the sustainable management of biodiversity and ecosystems. Through its teachings, the department aims to reconcile human needs with the ecological sustainability of natural resources.

In this context, Dr. HABAKARAMO Macumu Patrick, Associate Professor at the University of Goma, taught Dendrometry and Applied Dendrometry courses to first-year (L1) and second-year (L2) students during the last two weeks of January 2026. These teachings are part of a dynamic response to the challenges and issues related to the protection and sustainable management of terrestrial ecosystems.

As a reminder, dendrometry (from the Greek dendro: tree and metry: measurement) is a discipline of forestry sciences dedicated to measuring trees, including their diameter, height, shape, as well as the volume of trees and forest stands. It is a fundamental scientific tool for the management and conservation of forests.

To enhance practical learning, students from both cohorts were deployed in the field under the supervision of doctoral student Amani Ndimubenci, aiming to connect the theory learned in the classroom to field practice. This practical phase began with outings to various accessible sites in the city of Goma, notably Mugunga and the CBCA site in the Himbi neighborhood.

At these different sites, several dendrometric parameters were measured and data collected. Upon returning from the field, students were introduced to the encoding and processing of raw data in forest ecology using Excel software. The analyses conducted focused, among other things, on calculating the diameter at breast height (DBH), density, dominance, biomass, and carbon stock.

These parameters are of paramount importance, not only for scientific research but also for the conservation and sustainable management of forest ecosystems, both locally and globally.

It is worth noting that the Democratic Republic of Congo is among the global giants in terms of forest resources, which gives the training of specialists in this field major strategic importance.

Through such academic and practical activities, the University of Goma reaffirms its commitment to training competent professionals capable of effectively contributing to the preservation of natural resources and sustainable development.