On the ^25th day of November 2013, a workshop was held in Bujumbura to launch Regional Training activities on Mycology in Burundi. The speech to launch the activities was delivered by the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Water, Environment, Land Use Planning and Urban Development (MEEATU). In his speech, he emphasized that such an event was timely because so far Africa has a severe shortage of mycologists and mushrooms are in the eyes of some a forgotten kingdom despite their ecological and economic importance. He did not fail to thank the organizers of the Training, which are the National Institute for Environment and Nature Conservation (INECN) of Burundi, the National Botanical Garden of Belgium, the University of Kigali in Rwanda, the University of Bukavu in Rwanda, the University of Bukavu in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the Royal Institute of Natural Sciences of Belgium in Belgium (In the middle on the photo).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Through their participation, various personalities enhanced the activities of the event. Here we would cite university professors, managers of the Institute for Environment and Nature Conservation (INECN), representatives of certain associations working in the field of the environment and to name but a few. The participants in the training were 9 and came from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Burundi.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the opening remarks of the activities, the participants followed 2 presentations, one on the state of knowledge of mushrooms in Africa and Burundi presented by Doctor Jérôme Degreef and the other on the Importance of mushrooms (economic and ecological roles) by Nzigidahera Benoit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the end of these 2 presentations, the participants observed a session of exchanges and discussions and clarifications were provided by the presenters to the satisfaction of the speakers (Photo 4A&B).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The activities to launch the training were closed with a speech by the Director General of the National Institute for Environment and Nature Conservation at 11.30 am Bujumbura time and the participants prepared to leave for the field where the training should begin (Kibira National Park).