Since 2007, CIFOR-ICRAF has been working in the Yangambi landscape to advance forestry research, local development and conservation. With offices based in Kisangani, Yangambi and Yanonge, CIFOR-ICRAF researchers have collaborated with partners in government, academia, communities and the private sector to build capacity in the forestry sector, inform national forest policies, and improve livelihoods for vulnerable households through agroforestry and support to the development of value-chains.

CIFOR-ICRAF has an ongoing EU-funded MSc and PhD programme in partnership with the University of Kisangani. As part of the activities conducted in the Yangambi landscape to inform local, provincial, and national policies, our work focuses on the development of legal and sustainable artisanal logging and domestic timber markets; on supporting the sustainable creation and development of community forests; on the promotion of multipurpose trees for nutrition and income through agroforestry schemes on private and customary land; promotion of sustainable wildlife management for nutrition and poverty alleviation; support of sustainable woodfuel value chains, from producers in rural areas to consumers in the major cities; support for landscape restoration to meet commitments under the AFR100 initiative; forests and climate change; and REDD+, including finance and benefit-sharing analysis and use of near-real-time alerts to analyse forest disturbance processes in peatlands.