View source for Place:Yangambi

{{Infobox settlement
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| name                    = Yangambi
| native_name             =
| native_name_lang        = <!-- ISO 639-2 code e.g. "fr" for French. If more than one, use {{lang}} instead -->
| settlement_type         = Commune
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| pushpin_map             = Democratic Republic of the Congo
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| coordinates             = {{coord|0.767475|N|24.441404|E|display=inline,title}}
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| subdivision_type        = Country
| subdivision_name        = {{flag|DR Congo}}
| subdivision_type1       = Province
| subdivision_name1       = Tshopo
| subdivision_type2       = Territory
| subdivision_name2       = Isangi
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| timezone1               = [[Central Africa Time|CAT]]
| utc_offset1             = +2
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| blank_name_sec1         = [[Earth:Köppen climate classification|Climate]]
| blank_info_sec1         = [[Earth:Tropical rainforest climate|Af]]
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'''Yangambi''' is a town in Isangi territory of Tshopo province, Democratic Republic of the Congo.

==Location==

Yangambi is on the north side of the Congo River and lies on the R408 road which connects it to Kisangani 100 kilometers to the east.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cifor.org/forets/en/maps/yangambi-biosphere-reserve/|title=Yangambi Biosphere Reserve|website=FORETS|language=en-US|access-date=2019-12-29}}</ref> This road is unpaved, rarely used in the rainy season and difficult to use at all times of the year. The roads linking Yangambi to Weko and Isangi are also very poor. The river provides an alternative transport route.
The town was once served by the small Yangambi Airport.<ref>{{cite web |title=Yangambi Airport (YAN) |work=World Airport Codes |url=http://www.world-airport-codes.com/democratic-republic-of-the-congo/yangambi-7751.html |access-date=2011-10-10}}</ref>

==Weather==

Mean annual rainfall is {{convert|1835|mm|in}}.{{sfn|Corley|Tinker|2008|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=NtCo1TdXuQkC&pg=PA23 23]}}
August is the wettest month and February the driest.
The skies tend to be partly cloudy even during the drier seasons.

==Yangambi Biosphere Reserve==

235,000 hectares of forest around Yangambi were declared a Biosphere Reserve in 1976,<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://www.unesco.org/new/en/natural-sciences/environment/ecological-sciences/biosphere-reserves/africa/democratic-republic-of-the-congo/yangambi/|title=Yangambi |website=United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization |access-date=2019-12-29}}</ref> part of [[Organization:UNESCO|UNESCO]]’s [[Biology:Man and the Biosphere Programme|Man and the Biosphere Programme]] (MAB).

The Yangambi Biosphere Reserve comprises secondary forests with ''[[Biology:Pycnanthus angolensis|Pycnanthus angolensis]]'' and ''Fagara macrophylla'', semi deciduous secondary rain forests, rain forests with ''[[Biology:Gilbertiodendron dewevrei|Gilbertiodendron dewevrei]]'', climax forests with ''[[Biology:Brachystegia laurentii|Brachystegia laurentii]]'' and marshland forests.<ref name=":0" />

The site is very important from a biodiversity point of view since it hosts endangered tree species, such as Afrormosia (''[[Biology:Pericopsis elata|Pericopsis elata]]''). It was also once home to elephants ([[Biology:African forest elephant|''Loxodonta africana cyclotis'']]), but they have now disappeared locally.{{sfn|van Vliet|Muhindo|Kambale Nyumu|Mushagalusa|2018}} In 2018, a study confirmed the presence of Common Chimpanzees (''[[Biology:Chimpanzee|Pan troglodytes]]'') in the area.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cifor.org/forets/corporate-news/endangered-chimpanzees-discovered-in-the-drc-with-help-of-camera-traps/|title=Endangered chimpanzees discovered in the DRC with help of camera traps|website=FORETS|language=fr-FR|access-date=2019-12-29}}</ref>

==Research center==
[[File:Yangambi INERA.jpg|thumb|left|Modern-day view of the colonial-era INEAC facility at Yangambi]]
During the colonial era, Yangambi was home to the Institut national pour les études agronomiques du Congo belge (INEAC), one of the world's most important tropical agriculture and forestry research centers.

The INEAC experimental fields and laboratories were built along a road parallel to the north bank of the Congo river, and along a road stretching northward from the river for about {{convert|25|km|mi}}.{{sfn|De Langhe|2005|p=47}}
In the 1930s researchers at INEAC found the relationship between the ''tenera'', ''dura'' and ''pisifera'' oil palms.{{sfn|Corley|Tinker|2008|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=NtCo1TdXuQkC&pg=PA23 23]}}
Oil palms have relatively low yield around Yangambi compared to coastal regions. This appears to be due to the lower night temperatures in the continental interior, which have a mean minimum at Yangambi of around {{convert|20|C|F}}.{{sfn|Corley|Tinker|2008|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=NtCo1TdXuQkC&pg=PA56 56]}}

The center developed a number of varieties of soy beans for use in different parts of the country.{{sfn|Shurtleff|Aoyagi|2009|p=202}}
Early-maturing varieties yielded over 1,200&nbsp;kg/ha of soybeans.{{sfn|Shurtleff|Aoyagi|2009|p=216}}
Field trials showed that inoculation could increase yields by 80% to 300%.{{sfn|Shurtleff|Aoyagi|2009|p=226}}
In the 1950s INEAC researchers discovered the 'Yangambi km 5' (AAA) dessert banana. This variety yields large numbers of small fruit with an excellent taste, is productive even on poor soils and is resistant to black leaf streak disease.{{sfn|De Langhe|2005|p=47}}
There is some evidence that this cultivar may have originated in southern Thailand, introduced to the Kilo-Moto region in northeastern Congo and then brought to Yangambi before [[Social:World War II|World War II]].{{sfn|De Langhe|2005|p=48}}

After independence, the INEAC became the Institute National pour l'Etude et la Recherche Agronomiques (INERA), a Congolese institution. However, decades of conflict and political instability led to a progressive decline of Yangambi's research station.

==Recent developments==
Since 2017, with funding from the [[Social:European Union|European Union]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://europa.eu/capacity4dev/b4life/blog/eu-delegation-drc-and-cifor-officially-launched-new-27-million-euros-project-yangambi-biosphere|author=Arnold Jacques de Dixmude |date=12 March 2017|title=The EU Delegation in DRC and CIFOR officially launched a new 27-million Euros project at the Yangambi Biosphere Reserve |work=Capacity4dev |publisher=European Union |access-date=2019-12-29}}</ref> the [[Organization:Center for International Forestry Research|Center for International Forestry Research]] (CIFOR) and several international and Congolese partners are conducting efforts to make of Yangambi's landscape a world-class hub for development, science, and conservation.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cifor.org/forets/en/about/project-background/|title=Project Background|website=FORETS|language=en-US|access-date=2019-12-29}}</ref> Recent initiatives include restoration of degraded land,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://afr100.org/content/energizing-degraded-land-congo-basin|title=Energizing degraded land in the Congo Basin |website=afr100 |access-date=2019-12-29}}</ref> new infrastructure, research on endangered flora and fauna, support to local entrepreneurs, and training of local forest experts.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://forestsnews.cifor.org/58188/meet-the-next-generation-of-congolese-forest-experts?fnl=en|title=Meet the next generation of Congolese forest experts|date=2018-10-17|website=CIFOR Forests News|access-date=2019-12-29}}</ref>

In 2018, the Meise Botanic Garden and INERA renovated Yangambi's herbarium, which has a collection of 150,000 dried plant specimens.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://forestsnews.cifor.org/59295/protecting-congos-botanical-treasures?fnl=en|title=Protecting Congo's botanical treasures|date=2019-01-11|website=CIFOR Forests News|access-date=2019-12-29}}</ref>

In 2019, the [[Biology:Royal Museum for Central Africa|Royal Museum for Central Africa]] (RMCA) launched a new wood biology laboratory in Yangambi, the first of its kind in [[Place:Sub-Saharan Africa|Sub-Saharan Africa]].<ref>{{Cite web |url= https://www.africamuseum.be/en/research/discover/news/yangambilab |title=Wood biology laboratory, first of its kind in Sub-Saharan Africa, opens in Democratic Republic of the Congo |website=Africa Museum |access-date=2019-12-29}}</ref>

Since 2020, Yangambi hosts the [[Place:Congo Basin|Congo Basin]]'s first [[Eddy covariance|Eddy covariance flux tower]], installed by [[Organization:Ghent University|Ghent University]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cifor.org/forets/en/yps-yangambi-pole-scientifique/|title=YPS (Yangambi Pôle Scientifique)|website=FORETS|language=en-US|access-date=2019-12-29}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist |colwidth=24em}}

==Sources==
{{Refbegin}}
*{{cite web
 |url=http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/12DF1000606655E6C1256F2D00484A0A-ocha_drcOrient031103.pdf
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 |publisher=Reliefweb
 |date=October 2002
 |access-date=2011-10-08}}
*{{cite book
 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NtCo1TdXuQkC
 |title=The Oil Palm
 |first1=R. H. V. |last1=Corley |first2=P. B. H. |last2=Tinker
 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |year=2008
 |isbn=978-0-470-75036-0}}
*{{cite journal
 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T9Sv2nlVm3wC&pg=PA47
 |title=The story behind the name 'Yangabi km 5'
 |first=Edmond |last=De Langhe
 |journal=Infomusa: The International Journal on Banana and Plantain
 |volume=14|issue=1 |date=June 2005 
 |issn=1023-0076}}
*{{cite book
 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mdEHpSmFVAIC&pg=PA175
 |title=A primer of conservation genetics
 |first1=Richard |last1=Frankham |first2=Jonathan D. |last2=Ballou |first3=David Anthony |last3=Briscoe
 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2004
 |isbn=978-0-521-53827-5}}
*{{cite book
 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mYJ3ni4bpzEC&pg=PA41
 |title=The living age ..., Volume 181
 |first1=Eliakim |last1=Littell |first2=Robert S. |last2=Littell
 |publisher=Littell, son & company |year=1889}}
*{{cite book
 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fmuP2VfjFCQC&pg=PA202
 |title=History of Soybeans and Soyfoods in Africa (1857-2009): Extensively Annotated Bibliography and Sourcebook
 |first1=William |last1=Shurtleff |first2=Akiko |last2=Aoyagi
 |publisher=Soyinfo Center |year=2009
 |isbn=978-1-928914-25-9}}
*{{cite book
 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LtBSJqhlaWwC&pg=PA12
 |title=Food production in a land-surplus, labor-scarce economy: the Zairian Basin, Volume 1
 |first=Tshikala B. |last=Tshibaka
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*{{cite book
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 |title=Labor in the rural household economy of the Zairian basin
 |first=Tshikala B. |last=Tshibaka
 |publisher=Intl Food Policy Res Inst |year=1992
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*{{Cite journal |last1=van Vliet |first1=Nathalie |last2=Muhindo |first2=Jonas |last3=Kambale Nyumu |first3=Jonas |last4=Mushagalusa |first4=Olivier |last5=Nasi |first5=Robert |date=2018 |title=Mammal Depletion Processes as Evidenced From Spatially Explicit and Temporal Local Ecological Knowledge |journal=Tropical Conservation Science |volume=11 |at=1940082918799494 |doi=10.1177/1940082918799494 |doi-access=free |issn=1940-0829}}
{{Refend}}

==External links==


[[Category:Agronomy]]

{{Sourceattribution|Yangambi|1}}