The University of Koblenz-Landau in Germany, in partnership with the Center of Excellence in Biodiversity and Natural Resources Management (CoEB) at the University of Rwanda, had prepared a field course with the goal of building capacity for plant sampling and collections management among students and early career researchers from Rwanda. The main target of this field course was to build the capacities of Rwandan students to inventory, assess, and document plant diversity information. The plan was that in March 2024 students of University of Rwanda would be trained in Nyungwe National Park with the remaining funding of the Volkswagen Foundation. Field methods to sample and collect plants were demonstrated as well as how to prepare, archive, and store scientific material for future education and research.

Field course was planned for a 7-day period from 7 to 13 March 2024 in Nyungwe National Park, including Cyamudongo forest, with 8 students from University of Rwanda studying botany, and three staff from the National Herbarium of Rwanda, in addition to the trainer, Prof Eberhard Fischer (for a total of 11 individuals). Before the field course began, the students together with the instructor, met for two days for orientation at the National Herbarium of Rwanda (NHR), and about two days after the field course ended were used for herbarium management training, ferns identification, at the NHR facility in Huye district.

During the field course in Nyungwe NP, sampling methods were taught to the students e.g. how to find, collect and maintain specimens in the different natural ecosystems in Nyungwe and Cyamudongo. The instruction covered data collection for plant voucher specimens and the techniques for preparing and storing these specimens for scientific research and reference purposes. These voucher specimens contributed to enhancing the reference collections at CoEB. The CoEB and specifically the NHR had desired a strong collaboration with Prof Eberhard Fischer, the botanist who was probably the main expert of Rwandan flora. It was a great benefit to have Prof Fischer connected to the NHR, and he had offered to do this training for Rwandan students, which was also a great benefit. This was the first time for such a collaboration between Prof Fischer, the CoEB, and the newly renovated NHR.