Genesis and aims
The Master
course Tropical Forestry given in English language was
sanctioned by the Sächsisches Staatsministerium für
Wissenschaft und Kunst (Saxon State Ministry for Science and
the Arts) in 1995 and the first matriculation took place in
1995/96 winter semester. The graduates were conferred upon
the academic degree Master of Science (MSc) with the
supplement Tropical Forestry.
Since the
beginning the course has been supported by DAAD (German
Academic Exchange Service).
Starting with
the academic year 2006/07 the ERASMUS MUNDUS-Program
Sustainable Tropical Forestry (SUTROFOR) has been
integrated. Hence, scholarship holder of the European
Community and other students add to the spectrum. Moreover,
in the MUNDUS-Program also faculties cooperate, which are
located in Copenhagen, Bangor, Montpellier and
Padua.
The course was successfully accredited by ASIIN in 2008 and was honored in the competition for the "Quality label for the top ten Master courses at German universities" by Stifterverband der deutschen Wissenschaft (Association of German Scientific Foundations). An external evaluation by the DAAD took place in 2009 with very good result. The course offered starting from winter semester 2013/2014 is subdivided in the study units Tropical Forestry and Management, which largely corresponds to the previous course, as well as the study unit Sustainable Tropical Forestry (SUTROFOR), being offered jointly with four partner universities within the framework of an ERASMUS-MUNDUS-project.
The course
aims at educating competent executives with the ability of
developing scientifically substantiated, innovative and
sustainable management concepts for forest, forest
plantations and woody plant components in agro-forestry
systems as well as in urban and peri-urban green
spaces, as well as controlling and accompanying by
observation their implementation. This includes the
flexible adaptation to the changing ecological and social
framework. The students acquire knowledge of methods from
social, natural, engineering sciences and can apply this in
the management of tropical and subtropical landscapes. The
main emphasis is on the interaction between human being and
forest, as well as between the various interest groups,
being expressed in the teaching of multidisciplinary
approaches.
The course is development-oriented, internationally staged and turns primarily to students from countries of the tropics and subtropics. Corresponding to the professional perspectives importance is attached to the increasing participation of students from Germany and other European countries.
Target group of the Master course are future decision-makers in the management of forest resources as well as at the junctions with other specialist disciplines. This refers to forestry, agriculture, horticulture, landscape and regional planning, geography, water management, nature conservation, biology. The graduates are qualified for development-relevant interventions in rural spaces and in transitional zones between town and countryside. They are to be equipped with a special capacity for functioning as change agents, in order to sustainably develop at differentiated scale levels the management of forest resources for various products and services.