D’une superficie de 225 000 ha, la Réserve de biosphère de Yangambi (République démocratique du Congo) est l’une des principales aires protégées menacées par l’anthropisation dans la région. Malgré son appartenance au réseau mondial des réserves de biosphère depuis les années 1970, les connaissances sur les dynamiques d’occupation du sol y sont encore lacunaires. Une démarche fondée sur l’analyse d’images (Landsat TM, ETM+ et OLI) et la réalité du terrain a été mise en œuvre pour étudier la dynamique d’occupation des sols de la réserve entre 1986 et 2016. Le taux annuel de déforestation est passé de 0,18 % au cours de la période 1986-2003 à 0,38 % en 2003-2016. Durant cette dernière période, la forêt primaire a connu un taux de déforestation plus élevé qu’en forêt secondaire (respectivement 4,5 % et 0,4 %). Quatre zones aux dynamiques socio-environnementales spécifiques ont été identifiées, nécessitant des approches de gestion différentes. Il s’agit notamment de la concession de l’INERA, des zones proches d’axes principaux de circulation, des zones situées sur des axes routiers plus ou moins abandonnés et des zones isolées du cœur de la réserve. Les principales causes de déforestation mentionnées par les habitants sont l’agriculture itinérante sur brûlis (54 % des ménages), l’exploitation artisanale des minerais (17 %) et la fabrication des pirogues (8 %). La pression démographique, sans amélioration du niveau de vie des communautés ou des techniques agricoles, et le développement du réseau routier, favorisant les échanges commerciaux, en sont les causes sous-jacentes. Cette dynamique de déforestation dans une forêt rattachée au réseau mondial des réserves de biosphère entame l’objectif fixé par l’État d’étendre le réseau d’aires protégées à 15 % du territoire national.
The participation of local communities in the governance of protected areas in the Democratic Republic of Congo is challenged by several external and local factors. This article aims to understand the representation of local communities and factors that influence their participation in the governance of the Yangambi Biosphere Reserve. Three principal sources of information (archival records, focus group and semi-structured interviews) were used to collect data. The results indicate a top-down participatory approach. The cumulative failure of several projects in the context of local development has led to different perceptions by local communities of their role in the participative governance of Yangambi Biosphere Reserve. Initiatives in participatory management and local development only function during the lifetime of externally-funded projects when initiators are present in the intervention area. The results call into question formal claims made by both conservation projects and the Congolese government regarding the actual participation of local communities in the governance of Biosphere Reserves. Furthermore, although Biosphere Reserves in DRC are recognized as part of the national network of protected areas since 2002, their management is still not aligned to either the Seville Strategy or the statutory framework of the world network of Biosphere Reserves. To achieve this, local development initiatives need to focus on poverty alleviation (through the diversification of income sources, entrepreneurship, farmer training and the creation of employment opportunities) and a better understanding of local practices and cultures in the design of such projects.
The Riparian people of the Biosphere Reserve of Yangambi (Turumbu and Bamanga) have traditionally developed practices of nature conservation. However, the ongoing socio-cultural changes in the region are likely to affect the sustainability of those practices. On one hand, this study aims to identify the Turumbu and Bamanga's existing traditional practices and knowledge about conservation. On the other hand, it aims to analyze the socio-cultural changes on their sustainability. Data collection techniques comprised of historical archives exploitation, focus-group, and individual interviews conducted for 20 villages surrounding the Biosphere Reserve of Yangambi (BRY). Investigations revealed a huge range of practices affecting plant communities and wildlife species as well as natural phenomena restricting either hunting or fishing activities. Findings also pointed out traditional knowledge and mystical-based considerations from agricultural practices. In addition, cemeteries, sites for the rites of passage, the foodbased taboos, and legendary sites were target to sacralisation. The grafting between religion, colonization, modernity and culture, resulted to a bottleneck which affects such practices. In spite of these constraints, the study shows that there are still opportunities at the multilevel (local, national, global) for their reactivation.
This study analyzes the factors of installation of villages and encampments around the Yangambi Biosphere Reserve (DRC) and the impact of this issue on its management. Among the factors that determine this phenomenon, the study revealed those of a political, economic, social, and religious nature. Logical consequences are a reduced distance between the reserve and the villages, demographic pressure, exploitation of natural resources by migrants, and questioning of any initiative to return migrants to their sites of origin. The integration of this phenomenon into public policies could contribute to the protection of this reserve.
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