Congo Basin Gets Community-Built National Park

After many years, the Democratic Republic of the Congo receives a national park in July of 2016. The 3500 square mile park is located in the central region of the Congo Basin and houses numerous endangered and threatened species. ArcGIS was used to develop the needed mapping systems to enable this parks establishment.

The region has many obstacles that had to be overcome by the Lukuru Foundation. Little was known or documented of the forest composition or animal communities within the area. Expeditions were set out to perform on the ground field research; taking surveys, monitoring wildlife, and establishing boundaries. Due to the lack of accurate geospatial data for the area, much of the initial mission was based on a basic digital map. A basemap was created as the team gathered from the field boundaries, transportation routes and population centers. Open source databases were also scoured for any data available.

Well into the project, researchers continuously scrutinized and updated the mapping system. As wildlife or hidden populations were found, ArcGIS was used to document the locations, population density and range of wildlife in the area.

As the park came to life, the researchers used the data gathered to better equip the communities in conservation and monitoring of the species populations; this will be used going forward to better stop poaching efforts happening within the park boundaries.