Briefing on the Tanganyika Provincial Environmental Support to Kabobo Natural Reserve, DRC 

Under the umbrella of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) new Constitution proclaimed in 2006 and the country’s subsequent decentralization process, the number of provinces in the country was increased from eleven to twenty-six. Located in eastern DRC, Tanganyika Province is one of the most recently created provinces, with its Provincial Government appointed for the first time in October of 2016. Shortly after the creation of the Tanganyika Province came the establishment of the Kabobo Natural Reserve (NR): a 570 square-mile stronghold of montane rainforest and biodiverse savanna woodland. Kabobo NR, together with the adjacent 1,223 square-mile Ngandja Reserve and 889 square-mile Luama Katanga Reserve conserve the largest forest and water catchment on Lake Tanganyika and comprise a combined protected area landscape larger than Long Island, New York, within the Kabobo Massif.

The Kabobo Massif is one of the most biodiverse landscapes of eastern DRC and the entire Albertine Rift Region. Its diverse habitats support high levels of endemism, and are home to 558 terrestrial vertebrates and 1410 plant species documented to date. The forest of Ngandja Reserve and Luama Katanga Reserve is estimated to comprise at least 2,500 chimpanzees as well as hippopotamus, elephant, and lion populations. Illegal logging, livestock encroachment, and bushmeat hunting threaten critical habitats of the Kabobo Massif and its rich diversity of vertebrate species including several mammals, birds, and amphibians. Surveys carried out in previous field expeditions to Kabobo NR reported new species to science, including four mammal species and three plant species. In addition, past biological surveys re-discovered species not seen since 1950s. Despite ongoing research, biodiversity in this area is still poorly known and large areas within the Kabobo NR have not been explored.

In addition to its outstanding biodiversity values, the Kabobo Massif is also viewed and valued as an important traditional heritage site by local communities. Under ABCG's Land and Resource Tenure Rights task area,  local communities participated actively in the establishment of the protected area throughout the gazettement process. This working group develops and tests strategies and tools to place greater land rights and resource management authority in the hands of local resource users, thus creating the capacity and the necessary incentives for them to exercise their authority in ways that are consistent with biodiversity conservation and sustainable use of renewableresources. Today, these communities and local government entities have formed a governance committee to co-manage this new reserve.  This co-management will help ensure sustainable resource use and community participation in conservation. 

As the Provincial Minister in charge of Planning, Environment, and Cooperation John Banza recognized Kabobo’s significance early on. His commitment and partnership with provincial and traditional leaders influenced Tanganyika’s Governor Mr. Richard Kitangala to officially proclaim the Kabobo Natural Reserve on December 21^st of 2016. This made Kabobo the first protected area of Tanganyika Province.

With support from ABCG/WCS, John Banza motivated the Provincial Government to develop a Provincial Environmental Management Plan to support sustainable development and environmental protection in Tanganyika. The United States Agency for International Development, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Critical Ecosystems Partnership Fund, Rainforest Trust, the Arcus Foundation and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature supported critical first steps for the design process of Kabobo NR and environmental planning in Tanganika Province.