Tropical Forestry

The Master’s course aims at educating and qualifying executives for the development of scientifically based, innovative and sustainable management concepts directed at natural forests, forest plantations and other wood formations, agroforestry systems and urban green spaces, as well as the control of their implementation and monitoring. Special emphasis is given to flexible adaptability to the changing conditions of the society and the manifold interactions among human beings and forest formation development from a multidisciplinary perspective. Therefore, the Master’s course is composed of 18 interdisciplinary modules in accordance with the Bologna process. Altogether the two- year course comprises 120 credits (ECTS) structured in three semesters for attendance studies and one semester for elaboration and defence of the Master’s thesis. The modules offered during the second and third semesters contain optional portions allowing the student to identify and follow a particular individual profile. The research plan is prepared to effectively collect and analyse primary data from late third up to early fourth semester. Elaboration and defence of the Master’s thesis complete the course. The course programme with its various fields of tropical and subtropical forestry is designed to enable participants to acquire qualifications that meet the professional and interdisciplinary methodological standards required to pursue and develop their careers. Study contents: The course goes beyond complex knowledge of forestry in tropical and subtropical regions. First semester modules include Forest Ecology; Forest Development and Land Use Policy; Inventory and Assessment of Forest Resources; Forest Culture and Extension; Forest Plantations and Agroforestry, and Forest Utilisation. The second semester modules include Forest Ecosystems, Silviculture and Forest Protection; Economics and Management of Forest Resour­ces; Organisation and Management Systems; Project Planning and Evalu­ation; Tropical Soils, Degradation and Rehabilitation; Management of Protected Areas, Wildlife and Tourism, and complex thematic seminars. The third semester modules include Management Systems in Natu­ral Forests; Management Systems in Forest Plantations; Urban Tree Management; Integrated Land Use Management at Landscape Scale; scientific working methods and elaboration of the research plan. Courses are conducted through lectures, exercises, discussions, seminars, practical training, home studies and excursions. The fourth semester consists of preparation and defence of the Master’s thesis. Since 2006, the ERASMUS Mundus Programme Sustainable Tropical Forestry (SUTROFOR) has been integrated in the non-consecutive Master’s course.

Graduates in forestry science or other related scientific disciplines (e.g., agriculture, biology, environment and social sciences) with at least two years of career experience.