A weeklong intensive training workshop which aims to build the capacities of forestry technicians from various forestry-related institutions is expected to begin today, Monday, June 27-July 1, 2022 at the Forestry Training Institute (FTI) in Tubmanburg, Bomi County.
At least 20 participants from the Forestry Development Authority (FDA), the University of Liberia (UL), Forestry Training Institute (FTI), conservation and forest management NGOs and environmental consultancy companies in Liberia will benefit from the herbarium management and techniques workshop.
Given the technical nature of this workshop, participants are obliged to have basic background in forestry, biology, bio-monitoring, botany, conservation biology or related fields.
Technically, herbarium is an extended collection of dried plant specimens that are stored in cabinets, curated, and made accessible to the public for educational and research purposes.
However small or big it may be, it is a storehouse of information and a research tool of immense value in forestry, botany, and conservation.
The workshop will be facilitated by Prof. Alex Asase, BSc, Ph.D. and the Executive Director of the Centre for Plant Medicine Research and Professor of Botany at the University of Ghana.
Key personalities from the FDA, FTI, UL among others will grace the opening ceremony.
It can be recalled that the United States Forest Service (USFS) is implementing a two-year, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Liberia funded program titled Building Capacity of the Forestry Training Institute (FTI) in Liberia.
One of the objectives of the project is to identify and develop priority experiential learning, research, and educational resources to prepare FTI become a center of excellence in mid-level forestry training in Liberia and West Africa.
As part of this partnership with the FTI, the USFS provided the needed technical and financial support to establish an herbarium at FTI to enhance the experiential learning experience for students, the first post-war herbarium in Liberia since the Harley Herbarium at the University of Liberia was demolished.
