Scientific institutions

Scientific support is given by the 'Département de l'étude du Milieu Naturel et Agricole’  (DEMNA, ex-CRNFB), in Gembloux, and through research agreements with several universities. 

The DEMNA provides expertise in all areas of the wood chain, from tree species to wood technology. Its activities also target ecological studies of (semi-)natural areas, as well as their conservation, restoration and sustainable  management. Its main lines for biodiversity research are:

• the inventory and the monitoring of biological diversity (Observatory of Fauna, Flora and Habitats - OFFH),
• the monitoring of aquatic organisms, especially fishes and macro-invertebrates,
• the monitoring of the management of protected areas,
• the monitoring of wildlife species, with a focus on big game species,
• the permanent inventory of forests, including parameters relating to biodiversity,
• the genetic improvement of the main forest species grown in the Walloon Region (study of origins, selection of seeding plantation areas, individual selection, locating and protecting plantation areas to be conserved).

The DEMNA and the Department of Nature and Forests host the Information Server on Biodiversity in Wallonia at http://biodiversite.wallonie.be/.

The universities also play a great part in research on biological diversity conservation, either independently (dissertations, theses, etc.) or through research agreements with the Walloon Region. This is the case among others for the implementation of the Natura 2000 network.