Sankuru Nature Reserve (french: Réserve naturelle du Sankuru) is a

protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...

in the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

. It was created in November 2007 to protect a forest area home to

bonobo The bonobo (; ''Pan paniscus''), also historically called the pygmy chimpanzee and less often the dwarf chimpanzee or gracile chimpanzee, is an endangered great ape and one of the two species making up the genus '' Pan,'' the other being the co ...

okapi The okapi (; ''Okapia johnstoni''), also known as the forest giraffe, Congolese giraffe, or zebra giraffe, is an artiodactyl mammal that is endemic to the northeast Democratic Republic of the Congo in central Africa. It is the only species ...

and

African forest elephant The African forest elephant (''Loxodonta cyclotis'') is one of the two living African elephant species. It is native to humid forests in West Africa and the Congo Basin. It is the smallest of the three living elephant species, reaching a shoulde ...

. The reserve has not been managed effectively, and suffers from ongoing deforestation and bushmeat hunting.

Creation

The Réserve Naturelle du Sankuru (RNSA) was created by ministerial decree on 6 November 2007, with an area of . The purpose was to protect the

Sankuru Sankuru is one of the 21 new provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo created in the 2015 repartitioning. Sankuru, Kasaï-Oriental, and Lomami provinces are the result of the dismemberment of the former Kasaï-Oriental province. S ...

and Lokenye hydrographic basin to guarantee the flows of rivers in the

Congo Basin The Congo Basin (french: Bassin du Congo) is the sedimentary basin of the Congo River. The Congo Basin is located in Central Africa, in a region known as west equatorial Africa. The Congo Basin region is sometimes known simply as the Congo. It c ...

and to conserve important animal biodiversity, including specifically the Bonobo, Okapi and Forest Elephant.

Description

The Sankuru Nature Reserve is the first large reserve in the Congo to be managed by indigenous people. It is the largest continuous protected area for great apes in the world. It won the first REDD+ (

Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation Reduction, reduced, or reduce may refer to: Science and technology Chemistry * Reduction (chemistry), part of a reduction-oxidation (redox) reaction in which atoms have their oxidation state changed. ** Organic redox reaction, a redox reacti ...

) contract in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. REDD+ fights climate change, but also protects biodiversity and supports local people. Fauna include

, elephants,

Hamlyn's monkey The Hamlyn's monkey (''Cercopithecus hamlyni''), also known as the owl-faced monkey, is a species of Old World monkey that inhabits the bamboo and primary rainforests of the Congo. This species is exceedingly rare and known only from a few spec ...

blue monkey The blue monkey or diademed monkey (''Cercopithecus mitis'') is a species of Old World monkey native to Central and East Africa, ranging from the upper Congo River basin east to the East African Rift and south to northern Angola and Zambia. It s ...

and at least 8 other primate species.

Rivers

The Lomela River flows in a northwest direction from the Sankuru Nature Reserve and across the

Salonga National Park Salonga National Park is a national park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo located in the Congo River basin. It is Africa's largest tropical rainforest reserve covering about 36,000 km2 or . It extends into the provinces of Mai Ndombe, ...

. The

Busira River The Busira River is a river in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is the main tributary of the Ruki River, which in turn is a tributary of the Congo River. The Busira may be seen as the upper reach of the Ruki River. It is navigable year rou ...

forms a few miles west of

Boende Boende is a town and capital of Tshuapa Province, lying on the Tshuapa River, in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It is a river port with riverboats sailing to Kinshasa via Mbandaka and is also home to an airport. As of 2009 it had an estimate ...

where the Lomela River joins the

Tshuapa River The Tshuapa River or Rivière Tshwapa is a river in Democratic Republic of the Congo, the main tributary of the Busira River. Course The river rises in the south of the Sankuru Nature Reserve and meanders north-northwest to Elinga-Mpango and on ...

from the left. The Tshuapa rises in the southeast of the Sankuru Nature Reserve and meanders north-northwest and then west-northwest direction to its confluence with the Lomela River. The

Lukenie River The Lukenie River is a river in the central Congo basin of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). River barges from Kinshasa journey up the Congo, Kwah ( Kasai), and Fimi Rivers to the Lukenie as far as the landing at Kole, a journey of 6 ...

rises near Katako-Kombe to the south of the reserve.

Issues

Satellite imagery shows that the reserve continues to steadily lose forest coverage. Between 2011 and 2018 it lost of primary rainforest, of which were lost between 2014 and 2019. The main driver for deforestation is growth of agriculture. Roads built to provide access to the logging area have let commercial hunters gain access to wildlife for sale as bushmeat in the large cities.

References

Sources