Coupling participatory mapping and GIS to inform village-level agricultural zoning in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Participatory methods that consider the land use of local communities are critical to resource planning. In the Maringa-Lopori-Wamba (MLW) Landscape located in northern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) is leading efforts to engage the DRC Government in developing strategies for sustainable forest management and micro-zoning. In developing these strategies, we used participatory mapping to determine collaboratively with the local communities the delimitation of village-level agricultural zones for 16 villages located in easterncentral MLW Landscape. For this, we developed methods that combined participatory mapping, satellite image interpretation and GPS data collection. To inform the dynamics of agricultural land use, we collected human population data at the village level and calculated the maximum distance from each agricultural area to the nearest road. The surface area of the delineated village-level agricultural boundaries ranged from 241 ha to 2616 ha. We found a significant and positive relationship between the villages’ human population and the surface area of their agricultural limits (r2 = 0.43, p = 0.005). There was also a significant and positive relationship between the villages’ population and the maximum distance that their agricultural limits extended from the road. We highlight observations from our participatory mapping experiences and explain the applicability of our findings to participative micro-zoning and understanding agricultural land use in the DRC.

► Participatory mapping and GIS were key components of the zoning process. ► The micro-zone boundaries will be formally recognized by the DRC Government. ► Village-level agricultural surface area ranged from 241 to 2616 ha. ► Village-level human population size ranged from 184 to 4800 people. ► Villages in North-Central sub-region had highest per capita agricultural land use.