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Location

This project focusses on C. canephora in the highly disturbed Yangambi region. Yangambi is situated in the heart of the Congolese rainforest, close to the equator and about 90 km west of Kisangani in the Tshopo district. Rainforests in the Yangambi region suffer from high demographic pressure resulting in considerable disturbance. Since the 1930s, C. canephora shrubs from throughout the entire distribution area were brought together in Yangambi and a breeding program was established, together with dozens of ha of production fields (Selan et al., 2017)

Climate

Being close to the equator, Yangambi has a tropical rain forest climate with a “drier” season from January to February, though still with an average of over 80 mm of rainfall per month. In the remaining months of the year rainfall remains fairly constant, resulting in an average annual rainfall amount over 1800 mm. Like the rain, the temperature is consistent per month, resulting in an average annual temperature of over 24° C (Selan et al., 2017; Diercke, 2018)

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(Diercke, 2018)

The reserve

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To administer nature disturbance, the UNESCO Man and Biosphere (MAB) reserve of Yangambi was declared in 1976, covering 235 000 ha. The reserve is managed such that conservation, sustainable use of resources and knowledge generation can effectively be combined. In the MAB three zones can be identified: the core area, the buffer zone, and the transition area (UNESCO, 2017a).

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(Wilkinson, 2016)

The core area is focussed on the conservation aspect of the MAB, as such sites and ecosystems are strongly protected and monitored to guarantee minimal disturbance. As this zone is practically untouched, it provides a wide range of ecosystem services. Adjacent to the core area is the buffer zone, connecting the core with the outer transition area. This zone is possibly the most crucial and most difficult to manage, as it has a twofold function. This zone balances the conservation of diversity, in anthropogenic, biological and cultural terms, and (ecological) cooperative activities like education and research. The exterior zone is designated as a transition area, in which agricultural activities and human settlements can be found. The conservation aspect is less prominent and the focus lies on the management and sustainable development of resources by the different stakeholders of the reserve (UNESCO, 2017a).

The MAB reserve of Yangambi is a component of the Congo basin, a 500 million acres area of tropical forest; the second largest in the world. In this part of the basin a myriad of vegetation types can be found, ranging from climax vegetation with Brachistegio laurentii over rainforests with Gibertiodendron dewevrei and semi-deciduous forests with Scorodophloeus zenkeri to marshland forest, meadows with Echinochloa and wetlands with Cyperus papyrus (Pourtier & Sautter, 2018; UNESCO, 2017b).

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© Filip Vandelook

Although a MAB reserve balances conservation and human activities, precise numbers of inhabitants of the Yangambi area are not available. However, research and personal observations confirm the presence of human activities. As such, agriculture, hunting, crafting and resource exploitation take place in the reserve, mostly in the transition zone, though probably (illegally) in the other zones (UNESCO, 2017b).

References:

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