The institute is a semi-autonomous part of Mbarara University of Science and Technology and is focused on research, training, and monitoring for conservation management in the Albertine Rift ecoregion.
[2] ITFC is located on the Eastern border of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Ruhija village, Rubanda district of South Western Uganda.
[citation needed] The IFPC became the ITFC - a semi autonomous academic unit of Mbarara University of Science and Technology in 1991, the same year in which Bwindi Impenetrable National Park was established.
The Establishment of Bwindi Impenetrable and Mgahinga National Parks was after a successful recommendation by ITFC (then IFCP), Mbarara University of Science and Technology and other conservation partners after they expressed the danger that Bwindi and Mgahinga Forests faced if not quickly gazetted as National parks.
As part of their work, ITFC carries out ecological research and monitoring on the state on both plants and animals all around the Albertine Rift ecoregion.