Scientists are looking at what is growing in the forest and the different ways the land is being used, with the aim to support people to most effectively manage the rich resources at their disposal. At one nursery in Yangambi, saplings are developing under the watchful eye of specialists and university researchers, to be planted throughout the reserve and to be used as windbreaks and firewood.

This work generating empirical evidence, training and forward-thinking are part and parcel of this ambitious effort born out of a series of projects implemented by CIFOR and its partners over more than a decade in the eastern part of the country.

SYNERGIZING

At the launch of the Training, Research, and Environment in the Tshopo (Province) project, known by its French acronym FORETS, CIFOR’s Deputy Director General Robert Nasi said, “The DRC plays a crucial and indispensable role in in the Congo Basin, both in terms of forest cover, population and in climate change-related issues.”

The work in Yangambi will help communities reduce deforestation and forest degradation, key factors in global climate change, and also assist to protect and manage the vast wealth of trees, thereby increasing carbon storage capacity.

   This tree is being cut for charcoal in Yangambi. Charcoal is a source of income for locals, but production is labor intensive and profits are low. Axel Fassio/CIFOR Axel Fassio/CIFOR

   Basai Bobe, 44, works at his charcoal production oven in Yangambi in May 2017. In order to produce high quality charcoal, the wood must be hard, and it requires two weeks to gather and cut the wood, which is placed in the oven for 10 days. Axel Fassio/CIFOR Axel Fassio/CIFOR

   A man transports charcoal to a market in Yangambi in May 2017. One sack of charcoal is sold for approximately USD 4 at the local market and USD 11 in Kisangani. Axel Fassio/CIFOR. Axel Fassio/CIFOR

   Charcoal is produced from trees in Yangambi to be sold for a small profit at the local market. Transport costs remain high and profits are low. Axel Fassio/CIFOR. Axel Fassio/CIFOR

“As often is the case, an unclear situation regarding land rights, a sense of past claims that remain unfulfilled, the need to feed thousands of families and the fact that the reserve does not yet have clear limits materialized on the ground are intermingling.

“There are calls for action tackling each problem in its own right, and this work also recognizes that this is a complex environment where synergies among interventions will be fundamental,” Cerutti said.

NEXT GENERATION

The 250,000-hectare site in Yangambi is termed a Biosphere Reserve, set up and managed according to UNESCO guidelines, and established for research, conservation and educational activities. But because of high poverty in the area and the push to gather products for income, there is a need for locally driven sustainable management and development solutions.

Residents cultivate cassava, maize, rice and groundnuts and produce oil from palms. But productivity, diversification and valorization of agriculture, livestock and fisheries in the area has been severely limited due to a multitude of factors. FORETS project scientists and development partners are assessing these elements and looking into how best to support development in the area.

“From initial discussions with local partners and Yangambi residents, there are suggestions to develop baseline situations as to the availability of wood from abandoned plantations that could be used sustainably to support energy needs. Also to address are the bottlenecks in existing value chains such as agricultural produce, woodfuel, timber and non-timber forest products and to look to the potential of new opportunities provided by the law, such as the implementation of community forests,” said Cerutti.

The approach is a holistic one, recognizing that this complex landscape consisting of conservation forest, arable land, research station and subsistence farmers requires solutions that strike the right balance.

Which means making the connections between farmers and local researchers to benefit both, bonding the studies to emerge from Yangambi and larger conservation concerns, and bringing experience and empirical data to global eyes.

   Dudu Lokangia, 41, prepares a trap in the forest in Yangambi. The main animals hunted are warthogs, monkeys and Gambia rats, with hunters setting around 20 traps in the morning and going back to check after 2 or 3 days. Axel Fassio/CIFOR. Axel Fassio