Putting River Users at the Heart of Hydraulics and Morphology Research in the Congo Basin

Abstract

The Congo River is navigable along much of its length and plays a crucial role in the economies of nine basin countries. River users rely on river transport for access to markets, resources, and key services. These users range from millions of small-scale informal users, to industrial-scale users such as mining and logging companies. Without a functioning road system, most economic transport activity within the center of this vast basin occurs along the river transport corridor. Environmental pressures on the resources of the Congo Basin are well documented (minerals, logging, etc.) and the challenge of balancing protection of the basin's unique and globally important biodiversity and ecosystem services, while ensuring equitable development, is a key challenge for the region. Understanding the links between human activities and the river system is therefore central to sustainable development in the region. Relatively little is known about how the river system functions and how it will respond to development and climate pressures in the region. The concept of science for equitable development is at the heart of the Congo River users Hydraulics and Morphology project (CRuHM), and in this chapter we explore what this actually means for an international science consortium to be conducting fundamental new science research in this huge basin. Our investigations show that the extent of the river navigation network in the Congo Basin is on the same scale as the primary road network. Population distribution analysis shows that 100 million people live within the basin, 83 million of these live within 50 km of a major river, and 33 million live within 50 km of a navigable river. How do we ensure that the much sought-after data that is being collected, and new research capacity and science networks created, remain focused on the basin and its people?