Yangambi Biosphere Reserve

Reserve in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Yangambi Biosphere Reserve

IUCN category Ia (strict nature reserve)[1]

Location| Tshopo Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Nearest city| Yangambi
Area| 2,350 km2 (910 sq mi)
Designation| Biosphere reserve (national) UNESCO-MAB Biosphere Reserve (international)
Designated| 1976 (international)

Yangambi Biosphere Reserve is a protected area in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is located in Tshopo province.

## Geography[edit]

Yangambi Biosphere Reserve lies north of the Congo River within the Congo River Basin. It is west of the city of Kisangani. Yangambi est une aire comprise entre le fleuve Congo  (au sud) et la rivière Aruwimi (Nord et ouest). La RBY est caractérisé par une superposition de régimes fonciers combinant l'existence de la Réserve de Biosphère de Yangambi sur 225000ha (RBY, 0.771°N, 24.527°E, 400m créée été affectée sous la gestion de l'Institut National d'Etude et de Recherches Agronomiques , puis déclarée publiquement Réserve de Biosphère de Yangambi en 1979 par l'Organisation des Nations unies pour l'éducation, la science et la culture et placée sous la gestion du Comité National « Man and Biosphere »  (MAB-RDC). Toutes ces deux aires présentent une importante potentialité en biodiversité faunique et floristique, mais différemment affectées par les activités anthropiques, dont environ 141 643 habitants vivent dans le paysage de Yangambi.[2]

## Flora and fauna[edit]

Plant communities within the Yangambi Biosphere Reserve vary based on rainfall, soils, and human disturbance. They include secondary forests with Pycnanthus angolensis and Fagara macrophylla, semi-deciduous secondary rain forests, rain forests with Gilbertiodendron dewevrei, climax forests with Brachystegia laurentii and swamp forests.[3]

The reserve is important for its biodiversity It is home to 32,000 tree species. Endangered and threatened tree species in the reserve include afrormosia (Pericopsis elata), iroko (Milicia excelsa), ilomba (Pycnanthus angolensis), and sapelli (Entandrophragma cylindricum).[4]

It was also once home to African forest elephants (Loxodonta cyclotis), but they have now disappeared locally.[5] In 2018, a study confirmed the presence of common chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) in the area.[4]

## Conservation[edit]

The protected area was designated in 1939, covering 235,000 hectares.[4] Yangambi was declared a Biosphere Reserve in 1976,[3] part of UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB).

Human activities in the reserve include agriculture, hunting, fishing, making canoes, and gold mining. The forest is used for research and experiments in forestry and forest regeneration. Illegal activities, including logging and resource extraction, also take place in the reserve, and illegal hunting has depleted much of the local wildlife.[3][4]

## References[edit]

1. ^ UNEP-WCMC (2021). Protected Area Profile for Yangambi from the World Database of Protected Areas. Accessed 21 October 2021. [1]
2. ^ N’Sila, Eureka (2023). "Diversité et écologie des Crabes d'eau douce (Crustacés : Décapodes) dans la Reserve de Biosphère de Yangambi et ses environs (Tshopo, RD Congo)". Mémoire. pp. 3–4.
3. ^ a b c "Yangambi". United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Retrieved 2019-12-29.
4. ^ a b c d "Endangered chimpanzees discovered in the DRC with help of camera traps". FORETS (in French). Retrieved 2019-12-29.
5. ^ van Vliet, Nathalie; Muhindo, Jonas; Kambale Nyumu, Jonas; Mushagalusa, Olivier; Nasi, Robert (2018). "Mammal Depletion Processes as Evidenced From Spatially Explicit and Temporal Local Ecological Knowledge". Tropical Conservation Science. 11. 1940082918799494. doi:10.1177/1940082918799494. ISSN 1940-0829.