Target Site in Nkolbesong, Cameroon  

International Research and Training Center, Central Africa

Establishing an International Research and Training Center Serving Central Africa

IRTC Mission

To facilitate interdisciplinary environmental, health, and social science research focused on Central Africa with outcomes that promote sustainable development and respond to the challenges of climate change

IRTC Goals

1. To establish a resource center with emphasis on community participation that coordinates research projects throughout the region
2. To forge lasting partnerships with African universities, African and American governmental agencies, the private sector, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs)
3. To develop a training program for U.S. and African students that promotes sustainable development in the region

IRTC Strategy

• Laboratories and living facilities for students and visiting researchers
• Administrative support providing foreign researchers with assistance with permits and logistical support
• A research facility for African and International students and scholars
• A hub and novel platform for collaborative research projects in the region and a unique conduit for the recruitment and training of promising Africa students to study at universities in California and elsewhere

Brief Description of the Project

The University of California system seeks to create an International Research and Training Center (IRTC) in Central Africa that will facilitate interdisciplinary environmental, health, and social science research focused on Central Africa. Its goals are to establish a resource center with emphasis on community participation that coordinates research projects throughout the region, forges lasting partnerships with African universities, African and American governmental agencies, the private sector and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and develop a training program for U.S. and African students that promotes sustainable development in the region. The IRTC will house a wide range of research projects conducted by scholars from campuses of the University of California and California State University systems and other American investigators in partnership with African scholars and students.

An Outstanding Need in a Critical Region

The countries making up the Congo Basin suffer from some of the lowest per capita incomes and bear some of the highest human disease burdens in the world. Environmental deterioration caused by rainforest deforestation, overgrazing, and agricultural pests further impede the ability of these countries to develop. In contrast to the social and environmental difficulties these countries face, the region is rich in natural resources, particularly oil. Currently, the United States imports 15% of its oil from the region with this figure estimated to grow to 25% over the next two decades. The development of these resources will increase access to remote areas and rural peoples, and offers both challenges and opportunities. Human heath and environmental impacts must be addressed to sustain the growing work force required for development.

A Focus on Science

Scientific methods can be utilized to analyze complex issues that are critical in developing nations. The proposed IRTC will provide support for University of California researchers who will bring this methodology to bear on pressing concerns ranging from public health to environmental sustainability. The intention is to provide reliable data that can inform decision-making and policy in the region. While great strides in identifying critical research areas have been made, fully realizing research and education projects requires an in-country presence and full participation by African Institutions of higher learning. The IRTC will facilitate research across many disciplines, including:

• Human Disease. Central Africa is home to many infectious diseases that are ravaging local human populations. These include agents responsible for significant global mortality (e.g. HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis) and newly emergent diseases that often result in high case fatality rates and for which there are not therapies or vaccines available (e.g. Ebola, Marburg and other viral hemorrhagic fevers). Despite the growing threat of emerging infectious diseases, and the potential for spread to other parts of the world (as evidenced by recent outbreaks of Monkeypox, SARS, and West Nile Virus in the United States), our understanding of the process of disease emergence remains poor. Prevention and control of such debilitating diseases requires multidisciplinary approaches using traditional public health methodology with wildlife biology, disease ecology, and anthropology methods that address awareness, prevention, diagnostics, treatment, biological and ecological research, and socioeconomic needs. The IRTC will provide a much needed regional facility where international health specialists and researchers can base their work, and a platform for establishing effective collaborations with Central African universities and medical institutions.
• Rainforest Restoration. According to the World Resources Institute, nearly 200 million hectares of tropical forests were eliminated between 1980 and 1995, a loss of more than 10% of the global total. In Central Africa, the rate of loss in some regions reached 55%. As pristine habitat continues to be lost, there is an increasing awareness that restoration of damaged environments is essential. The science of rainforest restoration, however, is in its infancy. Despite the growing need for restoration, little is presently known about “what works,” either from an ecological or a socioeconomic perspective. The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is currently engaged in a worldwide research program to determine the ecological and economic efficacy of different tropical reforestation approaches that will maximize the ecological and economic effectiveness of future reforestation efforts. The IRTC will provide crucial support for studies in the Congo Basin.
• Biodiversity. The hunting of wildlife for bushmeat poses a major threat to biodiversity in tropical forests throughout the world. The harvest of bushmeat in Central Africa is reaching staggering proportions. By current estimates, almost five million tons of bushmeat are harvested yearly in the Congo Basin alone. The IRTC will help launch a planned multidisciplinary examination of this phenomenon with officials from the respective governments and international NGOs. Researchers will examine the bushmeat problem from an ecological, ethnographic, and socioeconomic perspective and seek practical solutions to this growing threat to rainforest biodiversity.

In-country Collaborations

The IRTC will capitalize on the extensive research experience and contacts that UCLA has developed in Africa over the past two decades, largely through faculty and students associated with its Center for Tropical Research (CTR), which is affiliated with the Institute of the Environment, and the James S. Coleman African Studies Center (ASC), a part of the International Institute. It would also would compliment and strengthen the Congo Basin Forest partnership (see www.cbfp.org) of which the United States is a member.

Working with other University of California campuses, UCLA plans to establish a coordinated master's degree program in African Studies and Environmental Studies to enable U.S. and African students to pursue studies in anthropology and social sciences with professional and practical training in environmental and health sciences, sustainable development, and activities relevant to private sector needs. A prototype for such a program already exists at UCLA, which has a joint masters program between the school of Public Health and the African Studies Program. A centerpiece will be an exchange program that will be developed between major universities in the region and the University of California. Once established, this program will be expanded to include other American universities.

Through collaborative research and training initiatives, the IRTC will bring the best available science to human health and environmental issues, bridge gaps between African and American research and higher education, as well as between local and foreign governmental and non-governmental agencies, and coordinate activities with ongoing research programs such as the West African Research Association’s American Overseas Research Center in Dakar, Senegal, funded by the U.S. Department of Education.

Services and Facilities

To serve local, regional, and international needs, the IRTC will build and provide the following services and facilities:

• Research and training facilities for environmental, social science, and human health studies
• A coordination/resource center for researchers conducting research in Central Africa
• Administrative support providing researchers with assistance with permits and logistical support
• A training and education center for U.S. and African students utilizing distance learning and international exchanges
• A repository for data resulting from research in Central Africa for use in forecasting, decision-making, and policy formation
• A communications and long distance learning center incorporating satellite Internet-linked computers
• A meeting and conference center for African and U.S. educators and researchers as well as representatives from NGOs, government agencies, and corporations concerned with developing economically and ecologically sustainable conservation projects
• Laboratories and living facilities for students and visiting researchers
• The IRTC will function as a hub and create a novel platform for collaborative research projects in the region and a unique conduit for the recruitment and training of promising students from Central Africa to study at universities in the U.S. and Europe

With its extensive experience and contacts in the area, UCLA is uniquely positioned to establish Central Africa’s first interdisciplinary International Research and Training Center. Central Africa faces enormous social and environmental challenges and it is essential that American institutions move quickly to support local capacity building and lay the groundwork for lasting and fruitful progress and partnerships.

The First IRTC

UCLA researchers, in collaboration with government officials and researchers in Africa, have identified an ideal site for the first IRTC. Nkolbisson, Cameroon has existing facilities that can serve as the physical location of the IRTC. In addition to the IRTC, Nkolbisson is home to a station of the internationally supported Institute of Agricultural Research and Development (IRAD), the Catholic University of Nkolbisson, and an International Institute for Tropical Agriculture station. Conversations with local and national leaders have indicated a high degree of support for using Nkolbisson as the base for this endeavor.

Resources

A diverse array of expertise, financial resources, and stakeholder support will be brought to this collaborative endeavor. The success of the IRTC depends on the active collaboration of these many committed partners and resources. UCLA and African researchers have been working together for several years to strengthen our ties, craft a wise development strategy for the IRTC, and ensure the success of these efforts.
Expertise will include a community of experts in the field at UCLA:

• Environment
• Medicine
• Public health
• Social and economic science
• International education

Financial support will include a community of funders dedicated to climate change issues and developing countries:

• Government
• Foundations
• Private sector
• NGOs

Commitment, expertise, and enthusiasm comes from a community of partners within the region:

• The government of Cameroon
• Local universities
• International NGOs
• Local NGOs