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Effectiveness of the Yangambi Biosphere Reserve in Reducing Deforestation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

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Abstract

Establishing protected areas creates an opportunity to reduce deforestation. This study aims to inform the Congolese government’s efforts to promote forest and biodiversity conservation by assessing the effectiveness of the Yangambi Biosphere Reserve (YBR) in reducing deforestation. Group and individual interviews designed to understand the causes of pressure on forest cover in the Yangambi landscape complemented satellite imagery analyses. The results indicate that deforestation inside the YBR is not significantly different from outside the YBR. They demonstrate the lack of impact of the YBR in reducing deforestation. The dependence of communities on forest resources would have led to an explosion of bare and fallow land replacing forest areas. A sufficient budget allocation for conservation coupled with capacity building of managers to implement integrated conservation projects could offer alternative livelihoods at the community level, reduce pressure on natural resources from local development and ensure biodiversity conservation in and around the YBR.

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Data Availability

The data presented in this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request. They are not available online as they are the subject of an ongoing study.

Notes

  1. There are six categories of PAs according to the IUCN, including (I) fully protected PA, (II) national park, (III) monument or natural feature, (IV) habitat or species management area, (V) protected landscape or seascape and (VI) protected area with sustainable use of natural resources (biosphere reserve) (Dudley, 2008).

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to the European Union and the Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) for funding this research, which was carried out as part of a Ph.D. thesis through the Formation, Recherche, Environnement dans la Tshopo (FORETS) project. We also thank the French Embassy in the DRC and the Francophone University Agency (AUF) for granting research mobility in France to the laboratory “Espace et Société” (ESO) of Le Mans University. We thank the laboratory managers of ESO for the welcome and the collaboration. As for the R&SD (Resources& Synergies Development) consultancy and Campus France, we thank them for their logistical support. We would also like to thank the authorities of the MAB-Yangambi programme, INERA, and the local community of Yangambi for their collaboration in carrying out this study. Indeed, Denis J. Sonwa’s contribution is made within the framework of the Global Comparative Study for achieving the REDD (GCS-REDD) project funded by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD).

Funding

The Centre for International Forestry Research and Campus France funded this study.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of General Agronomy, Faculty of Renewable Natural Resources Management, Université de Kisangani, Kisangani, P.O. Box 2012, Democratic Republic of the Congo

    Daddy D. Kipute

  2. Department of Crop Sciences, Faculty of Agronomy, Université Officielle de Mbujimayi, Mbujimayi, P.O. Box 225, Democratic Republic of the Congo

    Daddy D. Kipute

  3. Ecole Régionale Postuniversitaire d’Aménagement et de Gestion intégrés des Forêts et Territoires tropicaux (ERAIFT), Université de Kinshasa, Kinshasa, P.O. Box 15.373, Democratic Republic of the Congo

    Jean-Pierre Mate

  4. Department of Geography, Le Mans University-France-UMR CNRS 6590 Espaces et Sociétés (ESO Le Mans), Le Mans, France

    Richard Sufo Kankeu & Moïse Tsayem Demaze

  5. Congo Basin Institute (CBI), International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Eco-regional Center HFS, BP 2008 (Messa), IRAD Main Road, Nkolbisson Yaoundé, Cameroon

    Jonas Ngouhouo-Poufoun

  6. Department of Botany, Faculty of Sciences, Université de Kisangani, P.O. Box 2012, Kisangani, Democratic Republic of the Congo

    Jean-Marie Kahindo

  7. Department of Sociology, Université de Kisangani, Kisangani, P.O. Box 2012, Democratic Republic of the Congo

    Salomon Mampeta

  8. Department of Economic and Social Law, Faculty of Law, Université de Kisangani, Kisangani, P.O. Box 2012, Democratic Republic of the Congo

    Ursil Lelo

  9. Centre For International Forestry Research (CIFOR), Yaoundé, Cameroon

    Denis Jean Sonwa

  10. Centre d’anthropologie culturelle, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Institut de Sociologie - CP 124, B-1050, Bruxelles, Belgium

    Daou Véronique Joiris

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  1. Daddy D. Kipute
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  2. Jean-Pierre Mate
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  9. Daou Véronique Joiris
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  10. Moïse Tsayem Demaze
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Contributions

Conceptualization: D. KIPUTE, V. JOIRIS, and JP MATE; Methodology: D. KIPUTE, R. SUFO, J. NGOUHOUO and M. TSAYEM; Formal analysis: S. MAMPETA and R. SUFO; Investigation: D. KIPUTE; Data curation: D. KIPUTE, R. SUFO, J. NGOUHOUO and M. TSAYEM; Writing – Original Draft Preparation: D. KIPUTE, R. SUFO, and J. NGOUHOUO; Writing – Review & Editing: D. KIPUTE, JP MATE, R. SUFO, J. NGOUHOUO, JM KAHINDO, S. MAMPETA, U. LELO, DJ SONWA, V. JOIRIS, and M. TSAYEM; Funding Acquisition: D. KIPUTE, V. JOIRIS and J.P. MATE; All authors have read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Daddy D. Kipute.

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Kipute, D.D., Mate, JP., Sufo Kankeu, R. et al. Effectiveness of the Yangambi Biosphere Reserve in Reducing Deforestation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Hum Ecol 51, 75–87 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-022-00378-6

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