The matriculation ceremony took place on the campus of CRESA Forêt-bois, Nkolbisson-Yaounde yesterday. Students from within and without Africa who chose Cameroon to pursue the Masters Degree course in International Biodiversity and Environment of Tropical Vegetations (BEVT) have officially started the programme.

The matriculation ceremony took place yesterday February 2 at the campus of the CRESA Forêt-bois Nkolbisson-Yaounde, a study centre of the University of Dschang. The ceremony was conducted by a college of university dons and experts in botany, alongside the French Ambassador to Cameroon, Bruno Gain.

Speakers qualified the course as crucial and timely, given the importance of biodiversity to both man and animals. Presenting an inaugural lesson, an eminent Professor of Botany, Francis Hallé, dwelt on what tropical plants bring to botany and what differentiates the botany of the tropics from that of a temperate zone.

The Rector of the University of Dschang expressed gratitude at the choice of his university to host what he termed an important programme like the BEVT. The French Ambassador on his part promised his country’s continual support to see that the project hits the target for which it was set up. The second batch is christened, “Promotion Professeur Francis Hallé.”

The Masters course is fruit of the “Sud Expert Plantes” project, an initiative of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Europe, which seeks to support the activities of developing countries so that they can better understand, preserve and disseminate, in a sustainable manner, knowledge on their plants. The five-year initiative (2006-2011), covers four regions across the globe, notably West and Central Africa, Indian Ocean and South East Asia.