Yangambi

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title: "Yangambi" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["populated-places-in-tshopo", "communes-of-the-democratic-republic-of-the-congo", "agronomy"] topic_path: "general/populated-places-in-tshopo" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yangambi" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::data[format=table title="Infobox settlement"]

FieldValue
nameYangambi
native_name_lang
settlement_typeCommune
pushpin_mapDemocratic Republic of the Congo
coordinates
subdivision_typeCountry
subdivision_nameDR Congo
subdivision_type1Province
subdivision_name1Tshopo
subdivision_type2Territory
subdivision_name2Isangi
unit_prefMetric
population_density_km2auto
timezone1CAT
utc_offset1+2
blank_name_sec1Climate
blank_info_sec1Af
blank_name_sec2National language
blank_info_sec2Lingala
website
::

| name = Yangambi | native_name = | native_name_lang = | settlement_type = Commune | image_skyline = | image_alt = | image_caption = | image_flag = | flag_alt = | image_seal = | seal_alt = | image_shield = | shield_alt = | nickname = | motto = | mottoeng = | image_map = | map_alt = | map_caption = | pushpin_map = Democratic Republic of the Congo | pushpin_label_position = | pushpin_map_alt = | pushpin_map_caption = | coordinates = | coor_pinpoint = | coordinates_footnotes = | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = DR Congo | subdivision_type1 = Province | subdivision_name1 = Tshopo | subdivision_type2 = Territory | subdivision_name2 = Isangi | subdivision_type3 = | subdivision_name3 = | established_title = | established_date = | founder = | seat_type = | seat = | government_footnotes = | leader_party = | leader_title = | leader_name = | unit_pref = Metric | area_footnotes = | area_total_km2 = | area_land_km2 = | area_water_km2 = | area_water_percent = | area_note = | elevation_footnotes = | elevation_m = | population_footnotes = | population_total = | population_as_of = | population_density_km2 = auto | population_demonym = | population_note = | timezone1 = CAT | utc_offset1 = +2 | timezone1_DST = | utc_offset1_DST = | blank_name_sec1 = Climate | blank_info_sec1 = Af | blank_name_sec2 = National language | blank_info_sec2 = Lingala | postal_code_type = | postal_code = | area_code_type = | area_code = | iso_code = | website = | footnotes = 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. 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.

Weather

Mean annual rainfall is 1835 mm. August is the wettest month and February the driest. The skies tend to be partly cloudy even during the drier seasons.

Yangambi Biosphere Reserve

Main article: Yangambi Biosphere Reserve

235,000 hectares of forest around Yangambi were declared a Biosphere Reserve in 1976, part of UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB).

The Yangambi Biosphere Reserve comprises secondary forests with Pycnanthus angolensis and Fagara macrophylla, semi deciduous secondary rain forests, rain forests with Gilbertiodendron dewevrei, climax forests with Brachystegia laurentii and marshland forests.

The site is very important from a biodiversity point of view since it hosts endangered tree species, such as Afrormosia (Pericopsis elata). It was also once home to elephants (Loxodonta africana cyclotis), but they have now disappeared locally. In 2018, a study confirmed the presence of Common Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) in the area.

Research center

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d3/Yangambi_INERA.jpg" caption="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 25 km. In the 1930s researchers at INEAC found the relationship between the tenera, dura and pisifera oil palms. 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 20 C.

The center developed a number of varieties of soy beans for use in different parts of the country. Early-maturing varieties yielded over 1,200 kg/ha of soybeans. Field trials showed that inoculation could increase yields by 80% to 300%. 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. 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 World War II.

After independence, the INEAC became the National Institute of Agronomic Studies and Research (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 European Union, the 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. Recent initiatives include restoration of degraded land, new infrastructure, research on endangered flora and fauna, support to local entrepreneurs, and training of local forest experts.

In 2018, the Meise Botanic Garden and INERA renovated Yangambi's herbarium, which has a collection of 150,000 dried plant specimens.

In 2019, the Royal Museum for Central Africa (RMCA) launched a new wood biology laboratory in Yangambi, the first of its kind in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Since 2020, Yangambi hosts the Congo Basin's first Eddy covariance flux tower, installed by Ghent University.

References

Sources

  • {{cite web |url=http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/12DF1000606655E6C1256F2D00484A0A-ocha_drcOrient031103.pdf |title=Carte des Districts et Territoires de l'ORIENTALE |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 |publisher=Intl Food Policy Res Inst |year=1989 |isbn=978-0-89629-076-1}}
  • {{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nbZzXgLLFYcC&pg=PA15 |title=Labor in the rural household economy of the Zairian basin |first=Tshikala B. |last=Tshibaka |publisher=Intl Food Policy Res Inst |year=1992 |isbn=978-0-89629-093-8}}

References

  1. "Yangambi Biosphere Reserve".
  2. "Yangambi Airport (YAN)". World Airport Codes.
  3. "Yangambi".
  4. "Endangered chimpanzees discovered in the DRC with help of camera traps".
  5. Arnold Jacques de Dixmude. (12 March 2017). "The EU Delegation in DRC and CIFOR officially launched a new 27-million Euros project at the Yangambi Biosphere Reserve". European Union.
  6. "Project Background".
  7. "Energizing degraded land in the Congo Basin".
  8. (2018-10-17). "Meet the next generation of Congolese forest experts".
  9. (2019-01-11). "Protecting Congo's botanical treasures".
  10. "Wood biology laboratory, first of its kind in Sub-Saharan Africa, opens in Democratic Republic of the Congo".
  11. "YPS (Yangambi Pôle Scientifique)".

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