Wondo Genet College of Forestry and Natural Resources

Details

Published on Monday, 07 February 2011 18:52

Written by HU WebAdmin

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History and Background

Wondo Genet College of Forestry and Natural Resources (WGCF-NR) was established in 1978 to train Forest Technician’s in a two year diploma program with the financial and technical assistance of SIDA. It has evolved for long to about 33 years in progress and currently the college is running BSc, MSc and PhD training programs in various fields. In the past 33 years it has produced over 4000 graduates working as researchers, instructors and experts in various areas of forestry and natural resources in the country. In 2000, the college was one of the major contributors in the formation of Hawassa University and has developed long run experience in forestry and natural resources teaching and research. Currently it has the enrollment capacity of about 2000 students in major three Schools, Viz. School of Forestry, School of Natural Resources and Environmental Studies, and School of Wildlife and Ecotourism.

The schools in total have 9 (nine) undergraduate programs which include: General Forestry; Forest Products Processing and Utilization; Agroforestry and Soil Management; Soil Resources and Watershed Management; Natural Resources Economics and Policy; Geographic Information Science; Wildlife, Wetland and Fisheries Management; and Ecotourism and Cultural Heritage Management.

There are 8 (eight) approved graduate programs in M.Sc. among which 5 (five) are active. In the current issue of climate change and bio-energy, 2 (two) PhD programs have also started this academic year. For details, visit Graduate School links.

Wondo Genet College of Forestry and Natural Resources is an ideal environment for teaching – learning and research as well as development training forums. The College is situated at 263 km from the capital Addis Ababa, 36 km from the regional capital Hawassa and 11 km from the town of Shashemene in the foot of Mount Abaro. It occupies about 1000 (one thousand) hectares of land area which encompass natural forest with its wildlife and plantation forests suitable for forestry and natural resources research and training. The spring streams from the hills are sources of fresh drinking water for the two nearby large towns of Hawassa and Shashemene as well as sources of irrigation for the commercial crops in the neighboring villages.

The College has 16 PhD, 34 MSc, and 29 BSc staff, a total of 78 on duty. In addition, 19 of our staff are on PhD and 29 on MSc study leave, currently.

Vision of WGCF-NR:

WGCF-NR aspires to upgrade itself into a University College and shall be a centre of excellence in the research, education & extension of forestry and natural resources management. It will play a major role in the effort being made in the areas of sustainable natural resource management, the attainment of food security and poverty alleviation.

Mission:

The mission of WGCF-NR is to provide relevant and problem solving education at BSc, MSc and PhD levels as well as short-term training including carrying out research and extension for the advancement of science and technology in sustainable forestry and natural forestry management.

Research:

The College has conducts applied and development oriented researches in the field of soils, non timber forest products, biodiversity conservation, natural resource economics, fuelwood, silviculture, agroforestry, wildlife, participatory forest management, land use land cover changes, climate change and related topics.

Collaborations:

The college has established important working relations with several universities and research centers. These include: Helsinki, Dresden, Oregon, Bangor, Waginingen, Swedish Agricultural Sciences, and Stockholm University. We have also good working relation with Muweka Wildlife College in Tanzania, CIFOR, AFORNET and ICRAF.

College Dean

Contact us

Hawassa University,

Wondo Genet College of Forestry and Natural Resources,

P.o.box: 128, Shashemene, Ethiopia

Tel. +251-4621100o1

Fax. +251-462110029