Maringa-Lopori-Wamba Landscape

Last updated
Maringa-Lopori-Wamba Landscape
Democratic Republic of the Congo adm location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Maringa-Lopori-Wamba Landscape
Coordinates: 1°24′22″N22°07′35″E / 1.4061°N 22.1265°E / 1.4061; 22.1265
Country Democratic Republic of Congo
Province Tshuapa District
Territory Ikela Territory

The Maringa-Lopori-Wamba Landscape (MLW) is an ecologically sensitive landscape in the Democratic Republic of the Congo within the Maringa / Lopori basin. [1] Since 1973 a Japanese team has been researching the bonobo population near the village of Wamba, and the Luo Scientific Reserve was established in 1990. However, research was discontinued after political disorder started in 1991 followed by civil war in 1997, resuming only in the mid-2000s. [2]

Contents

Location

The Maringa-Lopori-Wamba (MLW) forest Landscape covers 74,000 square kilometres (29,000 sq mi) in north-central Democratic Republic of the Congo. [1] The human population as of 2007 was estimated to be 586,732 inhabitants with a density of 8 inhabitants/km2. There were 2-4 inhabitants/km2 in the proposed or existing protected areas and 31.8 inhabitants/km2 in the proposed Sylvo-Agro-Pastoral zone. [3]

History

Congo Free State concession companies, ABIR shown in dark red Congo concessions.JPG
Congo Free State concession companies, ABIR shown in dark red

The local populace in the MLW were yam and cassava farmers who engaged in trade with river fishermen and pygmy hunters. [4] In 1885 a force of the Manyema people, followers of Tippu Tip, the Swahili-Zanzibari slave trader, arrived at the head of the Lopori River from Stanley Falls. They took hostages from nearby villages to ransom in return for ivory. By 1892 they had enrolled local people into their army and controlled the entire eastern half of the basin. [5]

The Belgian administrators of the Congo Free State were concerned by this development, and, in 1889, enacted the Monopoly Act, which declared that all products in the area were to be under their jurisdiction alone. The Free State also began a campaign to drive the slavers, traders and the Manyema from the region, the first stage of which was the establishment of a supply post at Basankusu, in May 1890. [5] The entire basin was under Free State control by 1898. [6] The Free State started to levy taxes, payable in ivory, but which soon switched to wild rubber. [5] By September 1892, the Free State was using its military forces to attack and occupy villages in the Lulonga and Maringa river valleys in order to expand its tax base. [6]

ABIR company posts within the concession ABIR company posts.svg
ABIR company posts within the concession

The concession to farm rubber was granted to the Abir Congo Company, which established its headquarters at Basankusu, in 1893. Its position at the confluence of the Maringa and Lopori, allowed ABIR to expand along these rivers and their tributaries, establishing new posts along the way. [7] The company established posts throughout the region, staffed by agents who were mainly paid on commission and used brutal methods to force the villagers to pay their rubber taxes. The effort of rubber collection did not leave enough time for farming, and the villagers began to suffer from malnutrition and starvation. Fatal diseases, such as Smallpox and Sleeping Sickness, also spread in the region. To save time, harvesters resorted to cutting down the rubber plants to obtain their sap. Reports of abuses led the Free State to conduct investigations into Abir's conduct, and, in 1905, to take back the concession. Soon after, with no remaining plants, the rubber tax was abolished. [8]

Threats

The MLW Landscape is in one of the least developed and most remote parts of the Congo Basin. The inhabitants are among the poorest in Africa, depending on natural resources to meet their basic needs. [1] Most of the people live by slash-and-burn agriculture, and rely on bushmeat such as porcupine, sitatunga, and forest hog for protein. [3] Cash crops include maize, cassava and peanuts. [9] The growing population is placing more stress on the environment, and there is risk of a revival of logging that could harm the ability of the land to sustain the people and could jeopardize biodiversity. [1]

Local and international institutions headed by the African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) have recently started developing a sustainable land use plan for the MLW. The plan aims to ensure that the economic and cultural needs of the inhabitants are met while conserving the environment. The approach combines AWF's Heartland Conservation Process and the Central African Regional Program for the Environment (CARPE) Program Monitoring Plan. A variety of tools are used including surveys, interviews with local people and satellite image interpretation. [1]

Related Research Articles

Maringa may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lulonga River</span> River in Democratic Republic of the Congo

The Lulonga is a river in the Equateur province of Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is about 200 km long from its beginning at the town of Basankusu. The Lopori and the Maringa join to form the Lulonga there. The Lulonga River flows into the Congo River at the village of Lulonga.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Basankusu</span> Commune in Équateur, DR Congo

Basankusu is a town in Équateur Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is the main town and administrative centre of the Basankusu Territory. In 2004, it had an estimated population of 23,764. It has a gravel airstrip, covered and open markets, a hospital, and three cellphone networks, the first of which was installed in 2006. The town is also known as a centre for bonobo conservation efforts. Despite such developments, most inhabitants live at a subsistence level: hunting, fishing, keeping chickens and keeping a vegetable plot. In 2010, the workers at the local palm plantation would earn an average monthly salary of $40, most others would have much less.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Thomas North</span> English businessman and investor

John Thomas North was an English investor and businessman. North was born in Leeds, Yorkshire, the son of a coal merchant and a churchwarden. At the age of fifteen he was apprenticed to millwrights and engineers before working for several years as a mechanic. He moved to Chile where his first occupation was as a boiler riveter in Huasco. He later moved to the Chilean town of Iquique where he worked as a waterworks operator, importer and ship owner. The War of the Pacific (1879–1883) provided North with an opportunity to purchase large numbers of bonds in the Peruvian nitrate industry. When Chile annexed Iquique and the surrounding province of Tarapacá the Chilean government transferred ownership of the nitrate fields to the bondholders. North was thus able to take a monopoly share of the lucrative Chilean nitrate industry for a very small initial investment, becoming known as "The Nitrate King".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Société Anversoise du Commerce au Congo</span> Concession company of the Congo Free State

The Société Anversoise was a concession company of the Congo Free State, headquartered in Antwerp. It was, with the Lulonga Company and the Abir Congo Company, one of the main producers of rubber in the Free State. Alongside Abir and the Lulonga Company the Société Anversoise handed back control of the concession to the Congo Free State in 1906. The Société Anversoise merged with Abir in 1911 to form the Compagnie du Congo Belge with a focus of the management of rubber plantations instead of the harvesting of naturally occurring rubber. The Société Anversoise was quoted on the Antwerp Stock Exchange from 27 July 1898.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lulonga Company</span>

The Lulonga Company was a concession company of the Congo Free State. It was, with the Société Anversoise and the Abir Congo Company, one of the main producers of rubber in the Free State. The company's rubber production declined in the early 20th century as a result of over harvesting of the natural rubber vine and the entire concession produced just seven tons of rubber in 1905. Like Abir and the Société Anversoise, the Lulonga Company handed back control of the concession to the Congo Free State in 1906.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abir Congo Company</span> Rubber company in the Congo Free State

The Abir Congo Company was a company that exploited natural rubber in the Congo Free State, the private property of King Leopold II of Belgium. The company was founded with British and Belgian capital and was based in Belgium. By 1898 there were no longer any British shareholders and the Anglo-Belgian India Rubber Company changed its name to the Abir Congo Company and changed its residence for tax purposes to the Free State. The company was granted a large concession in the north of the country and the rights to tax the inhabitants. This tax was taken in the form of rubber obtained from a relatively rare rubber vine. The collection system revolved around a series of trade posts along the two main rivers in the concession. Each post was commanded by a European agent and manned with armed sentries to enforce taxation and punish any rebels.

Wamba is a village in the Luo Scientific Reserve, Tshuapa province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is inhabited by Bongando people. The reserve is home to bonobos, threatened due to hunting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bonobo Conservation Initiative</span>

The Bonobo Conservation Initiative is a non-profit organization based in Washington, D.C. and the Democratic Republic of the Congo that promotes conservation of the bonobo and its habitat in the tropical forests of the Congo Basin.

The Lopori river is a river in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Lopori, and the Maringa River to the south, join near Basankusu to form the Lulonga River, a tributary of the Congo River. The Lopori / Maringa basin is called the Maringa-Lopori-Wamba forest Landscape, an area of great ecological importance.

The Maringa river is a river in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Maringa, and the Lopori River to the north, join near Basankusu to form the Lulonga River, a tributary of the Congo River. The Maringa / Lopori basin contains the Maringa-Lopori-Wamba Landscape, an area of great ecological importance. The Ngando people live in the Maringa River area north of Ikela.

The Ngando people are Bantu subsistence farmers who live in eastern part of Équateur and the western part of Orientale province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) is an international conservation organization dedicated to the preservation of Africa's wildlife and wild lands. AWF aims to protect the continent's wild lands as well as its wildlife and natural resources.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bolombo River</span>

The Bolombo River is a river in Équateur province, Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Bolombo is a tributary of the Lopori River. The Lopori River joins with the Maringa River to the south, to form the Lulonga River, a tributary of the Congo River. The Bolombo flows through the Lopori / Maringa basin, also known as the Maringa-Lopori-Wamba forest Landscape, an area of great ecological importance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yekokora River</span>

The Yekokora River is a river in Équateur province, Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Yekokora is a tributary of the Lopori River. The Lopori River joins with the Maringa River to the south, to form the Lulonga River, a tributary of the Congo River. The Yekokora flows through the Lopori / Maringa basin, also known as the Maringa-Lopori-Wamba forest Landscape, an area of great ecological importance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lomako River</span>

The Lomako River is a river in Équateur province, Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Lomako is a tributary of the Maringa River. The Maringa River joins with the Lopori River to the north, to form the Lulonga River, a tributary of the Congo River. The Lomako flows through the Lopori / Maringa basin, also known as the Maringa-Lopori-Wamba Landscape, an area of great ecological importance.

Alice, Lady Harris was an English missionary and an early documentary photographer. Her photography helped to expose the human rights abuses in the Congo Free State under the regime of King Leopold II of the Belgians.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Atrocities in the Congo Free State</span>

From 1885 to 1908, many atrocities were committed in the Congo Free State under the absolute rule of King Leopold II of Belgium. These atrocities were particularly associated with the labour policies, enforced by colonial administrators, used to collect natural rubber for export. Combined with epidemic disease, famine, and falling birth rates caused by these disruptions, the atrocities contributed to a sharp decline in the Congolese population. The magnitude of the population fall over the period is disputed, with modern estimates ranging from 1.5 million to 13 million.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ernest Baert</span> Belgian soldier, explorer and colonial administrator

Ernest Baert was a Belgian soldier, explorer and colonial administrator who was active in the Congo Free State.

The Kokolopori Bonobo Reserve is a nature reserve in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The 4,875-square-kilometre (1,882 sq mi) reserve is a protected area for endangered bonobos and uses a community-based model of natural resource management undertaken by residents of the villages of Kokolopori and the local conservation organisation Vie Sauvage.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Dupain et al. 2008, p. 329.
  2. ↑ Kimura 2009, pp. 209–225.
  3. 1 2 Dupain et al. 2008, p. 331.
  4. ↑ Harms 1983, p. 125.
  5. 1 2 3 Harms 1983, p. 126.
  6. 1 2 Harms 1983, p. 128.
  7. ↑ Harms 1983, p. 79.
  8. ↑ Harms 1983, p. 79-88.
  9. ↑ Dupain et al. 2008, p. 332.

Sources

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.