Its activities involve understanding how, over millions of years, climate change has contributed to the emergence of species or differentiation between tree stands (the AFRIFORD project funded by Belspo), as well as describing how seed and pollen dispersal mechanisms affect the reproductive capacities of forest species (the AFRITIMB project funded by F.R.S.-FNRS), and predicting which species or stands will be best adapted to the future climate (IF@ULB funding). This fundamental research provides crucial information for the implementation of more applied work aimed at the sustainable management of forest resources and the conservation of their biodiversity.
This transfer of knowledge is achieved through many collaborations, particularly with Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech (University of Liège, Belgium).