Mabali Scientific Reserve

The Mabali Scientific Reserve is one of the oldest and most important scientific research reserves in the Congo Basin. Located in Équateur Province, the reserve was established to support long-term ecological, biological, and environmental research in intact tropical rainforest ecosystems. Mabali has served for decades as a living laboratory, hosting Congolese and international researchers studying rainforest dynamics, climate change, biodiversity, hydrology, and human–environment interactions. Scientific reserves like Mabali are essential for evidence-based conservation and climate policy. The reserve is critical for long-term rainforest research and data continuity, climate and carbon-cycle studies in the Congo Basin, biodiversity inventories and species monitoring, training of Congolese scientists and conservationists, and baseline ecological reference data for national and global research.