Thibaut Vandervelden

Hi everyone! I'm Thibaut, a biology master student from the Free University of Brussels (VUB) and one of the team members who's planning to go to the Dimonika Biosphere Reserve in Congo-Brazzaville. Probably you all wonder 'why you?', 'why this project?'

Well, I would say that I am an anti-fragile person, by which I mean that I thrive in circumstances that not always go as planned, I adapt and try to work the current situation. I could say that I gain experience from these kind of events, and don't we all need that? Furthermore I regard myself as a valuable asset to this team because of the theoretical knowledge acquired during my study period at the VUB about social-ecological systems, forests and agroforestry systems and social and cultural transition strategies for sustainable development. So, I am really thrilled to put all these insights into practice in this new and exciting environment.

For almost five years we have been swamped in books, papers, lectures... You name it. But, this project finally provides us with the opportunity to put our theoretical knowledge into action. My main goal is to actually make a positive impact for the local communities and raise awareness among our scientific peers about the current state of our study site.

February 2018