SUPPORT TO EDUCATION AND RESEARCH

Environmental education for young people

The «Tobatela Zamba» project in partnership with the NGO Mbou-Mon-Tour launched Environmental Education activities in public primary schools in Malebo, focused on a “train the trainers” approach with nearly 90 teachers and heads of schools from 15 villages. The objective is to develop among students an eco-citizen behavior vis-à-vis local biodiversity, especially wildlife in general and the bonobo in particular. The primary and secondary schoolteachers are from 28 schools and will be able to reach approximately twelve hundred students.

Research partnerships and activities at Luki Biosphere Reserve

Our partnership with ERAIFT (Ecole Régionale Postuniversitaire d’Aménagement et de Gestion intégrés des Forêts et Territoires tropicaux), in the Luki Biosphere Reserve has provided many opportunities for post-graduate studies. A doctoral student was selected for a thesis on the subject: «Edible caterpillars of the savannahs around the Luki Biosphere Reserve: study by systemic and eco-landscape approaches». The general objective of this thesis is the sustainable production of edible caterpillars, with a view to improving food security and income, contributing to better socio-economic and climatic resilience of local communities. This work is supported by ERAIFT, Université de Gembloux and Université Laval in Canada. The doctoral student has already completed a first phase of data collection and initiated discussions with her supervisory committee on publications. Also, four ERAIFT masters students were selected through small complementary grants and have been working on the project since June 2021.

An agreement to collaborate on research activities at the Luki Biosphere Reserve has been negotiated with INERA (Institut Nationale de l’Environnement et de Recherches Agricole). As well, a collaboration agreement with the Research and Education Support Unit “Forest is Life” of the TERRA Unit of Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, affiliated with the University of Liège was reached, with the aim of intensifying scientific and technical exchanges, and to create a platform to facilitate these exchanges.

Research activities on the regenerated forest of Manzonzi continue under the quadripartite collaboration agreement between the Local Community, the Royal Museum for Central Africa (MRAC), WWF, and ERAIFT. also sets up coordination measures. research and gives prerogatives to ERAIFT to link Universities, Manzonzi and RBL to ensure that databases and copies of reports are available at the end of the research. To support this effort, a register was established to store databases, and copies of research publications, and to maintain records of current and ongoing projects for future reference.