Strengthening landscape ecology in tropical contexts

Conférence de Jan Bogaert, professeur à l’Université de Liège en Belgique. Présentée par le Centre d’étude de la forêt (CEF) en collaboration avec l’ Institut de biologie intégrative et des systèmes (IBIS), le projet NASER et le Réseau international des forêts modèles.

*La présentation se fera en français

Strengthening landscape ecology in tropical contexts: Capacity building, collaboration, and emerging research

Landscape ecology provides a framework for analyzing and understanding ecological processes at broader spatial scales. This discipline enables to address anthropogenic transformations of landscapes as well as in-depth studies of semi-natural or human-modified ecosystems. It complements traditional ecological research that primarily focuses on describing and explaining species or ecosystems. Its systemic approach, combined with strong interdisciplinary connections, has proven to be both influential and inspiring. Since its relatively recent emergence—particularly from the 1980s onward—the concepts of landscape ecology have only been gradually integrated in countries of the Global South, largely through North–South academic collaborations, many of which were supported by (Belgian) cooperation programs. Capacity-building initiatives, especially in francophone countries and those with historical ties to Belgium, have fostered the development of a new generation of scientists interested in analyzing and quantifying spatial pattern changes in tropical ecosystems. Given the profound transformations currently affecting tropical societies and ecosystems, strengthening expertise in landscape ecology and related fields has become increasingly urgent. This presentation will highlight exemplary case studies and underline the significance of such projects for partner institutions in the Global South. These initiatives have proven essential for both institutional strengthening and the advancement of individual scientific careers. The conference will aim to strike a balance between presenting scientific achievements and advocating for sustained investment in the academic sectors of the Global South.

Conférencier

Jan Bogaert (Belgium, 1970) is Full Professor at Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, University of Liège. He holds master’s degrees in Biology (University of Antwerp, 1992) and Bioscience Engineering (University of Ghent, 1996), and earned his Ph.D. in Biology at Antwerp in 2000. After a postdoctoral stay at Boston University (2001), he held the Chair of Landscape Ecology at the Free University of Brussels (2003–2011) before joining the Biodiversity and Landscape research unit in Gembloux. His research focuses on landscape and urban ecology, landscape architecture, and quantitative landscape analysis, with particular attention to anthropogenic and peri-urban dynamics. He has supervised over 40 Ph.D. dissertations and contributed to academic development projects in Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean. He is a member of the Royal Academy of Overseas Sciences (Belgium) and the Académie Congolaise des Sciences.