Forest birds of the Kisangani Region (DRC)

The Kisangani region is naturally located in a forested area. As is the case for other African forest regions, it is undergoing several types of anthropogenic modification (slash-and-burn agriculture, mining, timber exploitation). These anthropogenic activities are creating concern about the conservation of the original natural forest resources. With a view to contributing to the knowledge and conservation of biological diversity, including that of birds, the Faculty of Science at the University of Kisangani has been researching, among other things, the avifauna of the different types of original forest habitat in Kisangani since 1976. An avifauna comprising 267 species has proved resistant to the environmental modifications orchestrated; these bird species are divided into 31 Families, which constitutes an interesting diversity. The region only covers less than 1% (or 1,910 Km2) of the country’s surface area (2,345,000 Km2), but it already offers around 24% of the national avifauna.