Russia and Tanzania Expand Cooperation in Forestry

The delegation was represented by employees of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism of Tanzania, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation, the Tanzania Forestry Research Institute, the Tanzania Forestry Services Agency and the Sokoine Agricultural University.

The Russian side was represented by the project partners from the Russian side - representatives of leading specialized institutions, including the Institute of Forestry, Mining and Construction Sciences of Petrozavodsk State University, the Voronezh State Forest Engineering University, the Russian-African Network University (RAFU) and the St. Petersburg Charitable Public Foundation for the Development of the Peter the Great Botanical Garden, which acts as the project operator.

A series of important and significant business events and activities were held as part of the program:

On May 19, as part of a familiarization visit to St. Petersburg State Forest Technical University (SPbSFTU), Tanzanian colleagues got acquainted with the forestry education system in Russia.

On May 20, the delegation visited the branch of SPbSFTU — Lisinsky educational and experimental forestry enterprise.

On May 21, the Head of the Forest Resources Monitoring and Assessment Department of the Tanzania Forestry Agency, Jared Otieno Elly, made a presentation at the annual conference "Forests of Russia" held at SPbSFTU.

The day continued with the ceremonial signing of an agreement on the establishment of Russian-Tanzanian competence centers in forest education and forest science between SPbSFTU and the Tanzania Forestry Research Institute (TAFORI).

In honor of the signing of the agreement, a memorable midday shot was fired at the Naryshkin Bastion of the Peter and Paul Fortress!

On May 22, a working meeting and business lunch with the Deputy Chairman of the Committee on External Relations of St. Petersburg, Nizami Adilkhanovich Mamishev, took place in Smolny.

On the same day, an expert dialogue was held at the Committee on Natural Resources of the Leningrad Region with the participation of the Directorate of Protected Areas of the Leningrad Region, which identified points of mutual interest and prospects for the future.

On May 23, the delegation visited the Komarov Botanical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences and took part in the Africa Day conference at the St. Petersburg State University.

At the end of the visit, the distinguished guests had the opportunity to get acquainted with the beauty of St. Petersburg and visited the Petergof State Museum Reserve.

The visit laid a good foundation for the further development of mutually beneficial cooperation and strengthening of relations between Russia and Tanzania, and the created bilateral competence centers will contribute to the development of forest science and forest education in friendly countries.

The project is being implemented with the support of the Presidential Grants Fund.