So... how do people, plants and birds function and interact in the Congo Basin peatlands?

 

On March 31st 2022, Cassie and I received some exciting news: we had been awarded a Royal Geographical Society fieldwork grant for our project in the Congo Basin peatlands. Nearly ten months later, following a successful expedition in the Congo Basin and the completion of our Master's degrees, we are excited to share with you our findings (... oh and lots of photos too)! Our full report is kept by the Royal Geographical Society for public reference. We won't try to cover all 13,000 words of that in this article, you'll be glad to know. Instead, we'll give you an overview of what we found, how we found it and what it all means.

Whereas the climatic aspects of the Congo Basin peatlands are increasingly well studied, its biodiversity is poorly understood, perhaps with the exception of charismatic megafauna, including western lowland gorillas, bonobos and forest elephants. Similarly, little is known about how people interact with the peatland forest; the question of how communities use and shape the Congo Basin's peatland forest has, until recently, gone largely unanswered. With these knowledge gaps in mind, we aimed to investigate how people, plants and birds function and interact. Two specific lines of research were undertaken:

1. Community forest use (Cassie's research):

• How does the local community use plants found in the peatland forest?

• What community resource management practices are in place for sustainable management of the peatland forest?

• What are the opportunities to support community-led forest conservation initiatives

2. Birds in the peatlands (Joe's research):

• What birds are present in the Congo Basin peatlands and why might other species be absent?

• How does the species richness of birds respond to habitat disturbance?

• How does the community composition of birds respond to habitat disturbance?

Community Forest Use - Cassie's Research

Birds in the Peatlands - Joe's Research

 

Great blue turaco (Corythaeola cristata) in the Congo Basin's peatland forest. Credit: Joe Langley.

I was interested in understanding how human-induced habitat disturbance, typically leading to forest loss, affects bird communities. I thus undertook a series of point count censuses across three different peatland habitats, representing a gradient of habitat disturbance.

- effectively a count of all the bird species

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In November, we were invited to speak at the Royal Geographical Society's "Explore" weekend about our project

If after reading this you find that you haven't quite had your fix of peat (we don't blame you!), there are a few places you can read more about our research and the Congo Basin peatlands more broadly. Cassie's fantastic article for The Guardian is definitely the place to start. I'd also suggest reading Shona Jenkins' reflections on "how and why human beings shape and have been shaping the central Congo Basin peatland forest". We were fortunate enough to join Shona and her brilliant research assistants, Ovide Emba and Esther Bokungu, at the field site. Shona, Cassie and I are planning to co-write a paper, so stay tuned for that! And, of course, if you have any specific questions about our project, feel free to drop us a message.

The only thing left to say is another massive thank you to you all. Your support really did make this project possible and we are so grateful to have had the opportunity to research such a unique and important part of our planet.

Joe & Cassie