Pl@ntNet training in Congo

The first two days of this training were part of a practical school in botany and ecology for Master 2 students. The school was initiated by the Laboratoire de Biodiversité, de Gestion des Écosystèmes et de l'Environnement (LBGE) of the Faculté des Sciences et Techniques (FST) of the Université Marien NGOUABI (UMNG), under the supervision of Professor Jean Joël Loumeto. This practical school took place in the field from 26 March to 04 April at the Loundoungou super-site in northern Congo, where the Pl@ntNet application was regularly used in offline mode and bugs were identified in order to improve its operation.

On 9 and 10 April, the application was presented respectively to the Centre National d'Inventaire et d'Aménagement des Ressources Forestières et Fauniques (CNIAF) of the Ministère de l'Économie Forestière et du Développement Durable (MEFDD) and to the Herbier National du Congo, which is under the supervision of the Institut National de Recherche en Sciences Exactes et Naturelles (IRSEN).

As a result, 34 people from 5 institutions have been trained to use Pl@ntnet, 19 Pl@ntnet accounts have been created and 339 observations belonging to 212 species have been shared on the platform. The Pl@ntnet team included Daniel Barthélémy from CIRAD, Vanessa Hequet and Murielle Simo-Droissart, both from IRD.

The next training course is planned to take place in the Congo between now and the end of 2024 or the beginning of 2025, and will include as many as possible of the organisations wishing to take part.