Kabobo Expedition

The ecosystems that sustain our economy and well-being, are collapsing, species are becoming extinct at an unprecedented rate, and climate change continues relentless.

But there’s also some good news, in fact on the 21st December 2016 The Kabobo Natural Reserve in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), one of Africa’s most biodiverse sites, had its boundaries formally approved by the Provincial Governor of Tanganyika Province – a critical step in establishing and ensuring the effective protection of this important site. The move follows surveys made by WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society), which identified this forest as being very biodiverse and with unique species for Africa. 

Kabobo massif is one of the most biodiverse sites in Africa and to date 558 terrestrial vertebrates and 1,410 plant species have been documented. While visited in the 1950s by Belgian scientists, civil war and insecurity from 1960 until 2007 prevented further work or its protection. A survey made by WCS in 2007 discovered four mammal species new to science as well as three new plant species. We believe there are several species new to science that await discovery and description, genetic analyses helps in rapidly assess the presence of undiscovered species. Despite the results obtained by WCS in the last few years, large areas and several animals groups of the Kabobo massif remain largely unexplored. The expedition aims at filling some of these knowledge gaps and further promotes the protection of the area with the gazettment of the proposed Ngamikka National Park.

THE RESEARCH

The project is part of the on-going collaboration between the MUSE - Science Museum of Trento and Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). The main aim is to collect a significant amount of scientific and visual information on Kabobo massif. To target areas geographically distant from those previously surveyed and cover places never before sampled, in particular to investigate reptiles and amphibians and collect the genetic material needed to assess the taxonomic status of key species. 

During our expedition we plan to sequence directly in the field the DNA of species belonging to different taxonomic groups, through the use of a mobile lab called GENE, which is a system, developed in close collaboration with University of Verona, (see www.expeditionlab.bio).

THE DOCUMENTARY

The expedition, main features and biological value of Kabobo will be the subject of a documentary and a dedicated webpage. The film will also document the sharing of this information with local communities and the empowerment of a community-based process for the creation of the Kabobo National Park and will form an integral part of the process to persuade decision makers to establish it.

The reportage of Kabobo Expedition can be followed in the blog www.easternafromontane.org.

Every day something new about the expedition can be discovered on Facebook (@museotrento), Twitter (@MUSE_Trento) and Instagram (@museomuse); it is also possible to ask questions, find info and interesting facts about the project.

Members of the expedition

Coordination

Michele Menegon (MUSE Science Museum - Trento)

Deo Kujirakwinja (WCS - Wildlife Conservation Society)

Biological exploration

Michele Menegon (MUSE)

Marina Moreno (MUSE)

Guillain Mitamba (WCS)

Emmanuel Muhindo (WCS)

Arcel Bamba (WCS)

GENE

Massimo Delledonne (University of Verona)

Ana Rodriguez Prieto (MUSE)

Documentation

Simone Pecorari

Claus Dettelbacher

Anna Sustersic

Transport

Papy Nkulu (WCS)

Celestin Mussa Katontoka (WCS)

Institutions involved in the project

MUSE – Science Museum, Trento

WCS – Wildlife Conservation Society, USA- DRC

University of Verona

Personal Genomics, Italy

Source: www.easternafromontane.org