EU-funded research grant for SUSTAINFORESTS

Geographer at the University of Bern and PECS Scientific Committee member Chinwe Ifejika Speranza obtains European Research Council (ERC) grant for her project SUSTAINFORESTS.

Chinwe Ifejika Speranza has been Professor of Geography and Sustainable Development at the University of Bern since 2016. Now, she obtained the ERC grant for her project SUSTAINFORESTS. The project focuses on forest patches in West African agricutlural landscapes and analyses their potentials towards a sustainable future. The goal of the research is to study the functions and ecosystem services of these forest patches and use the results to foster conservation, sustainable agriculture and forest management.

With the funds from the grant  Chinwe Ifejika Speranza will support the training of early career geographers. “With my team of researchers from Africa, Europe and other regions of the world, I will conduct field research on selected tropical forest patches in West African forest and savannah regions to understand their dynamics and functions and to learn how they can be managed sustainably”, says Chinwe Ifejika Speranza as per the grant announcement on the website of the University of Bern.

by Johanna Hofmann