For more than 15 years, the Belgian non-profit organization Nature+ has specialized in the sustainable management of natural resources. Principally oriented towards Central African forests, its fields of expertise are varied and structured in eight programs.
Nature+ is active in the field of social forestry. With local populations in Central Africa, we develop reforestation activities, produce simple management plans, encourage small-scale logging and chainsaw milling, and aim to develop non-timber forest products. The aims are to enhance the participative management of forests and combat illegal timber exploitation while improving the standard of living of local communities.
Nature+ is also active in the field of agroforestry, with the aim to develop the sustained supply of fuelwood and to maintain food security.
The organization also provides technical assistance to timber operators involved in the process of forest certification, particularly concerning the sustainable management of logging concessions, Reduced-Impact Logging (RIL), High Conservation Value (HCV) areas, and the monitoring of wildlife and social aspects.
At all stages of the timber logging process, Nature+ is involved in applied research (forest dynamics, genetic traceability of timber products, etc.) and forestry (nursery establishment, forest enrichment, etc.) with the aim of developing relevant short- and long-term tools and strategies for forest management planning and conservation of forest resources.
Through each of its activities in the conservation and management of wildlife, Nature+ aims to contribute to the existing wealth of ecological knowledge of animal species in order to better manage their natural habitats. In close collaboration with local populations and administrative departments, as well as with the private sector, Nature+ works to ensure that wildlife contribute to the socio-economic development of Central African regions.
Moreover, Nature+ is actively involved in the REDD+ process, for example by contributing to biomass quantification and the development of agroforestry plantations in terms of carbon credits.
Finally, Nature+ is recognized as a provider of high-quality training programs in various fields linked to Congo Basin forests: forest planning, reduced-impact logging, identification of botanical species, wildlife management, integration of social factors in the management of natural habitats, etc. In addition, the organization actively contributes to several engineering degree programs and to numerous PhDs in agronomy and forestry by providing scholarships and contributing technical and logistic support to the projects of the association.
Composed of a team of forestry experts, Nature+ provides assistance to the managers of natural tropical ecosystems through focused scientifically-based interventions.
For this purpose, the organization works in close collaboration with the Central African Research Center of TERRA – Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech (University of Liège).