Kisantu Botanical Garden
The Kisantu Botanical Garden is a park and botanical garden near Kisantu in the Congo Central province in the west of the Democratic Republic of the Congo at 525 m above sea level on the right bank of the Inkisi River. Founded by Belgian Jesuits in 1900, it peaked in the late 1950s, before decades of decline. Its restoration began in 2004 with the help of the EU.
Foundation and first years
A few years after his arrival in the Congo, the Jesuit Justin Gillet was entrusted with the care of the garden of the Catholic Mission. He was interested in the local flora and planted the first useful plants; in October 1898 a garden followed on the grounds of the Bergeyck-Saint-Ignace Mission. A year later, the Congo Free State granted financial support and since the original space was too small, the garden was relocated to a 10 hectare area on a fertile plain of the Yindu River, protected by a dam from the nearby Inkisi River and from Channels and gutters were drained.
Originally used to produce fruit and vegetables for the missionaries, Brother Gillet's garden soon fed the colonists in Thysville and other parts of the region, including Boma and Léopoldville . It also became an experimental garden, collecting species that could be useful to the country, and a botanical garden with the most typical native plant species. A large number of citrus plants and other tropical fruit trees, such as the mangosteen from Indonesia and a collection of more than 50 types of bananas, were brought together. Gillet experimented with various types of cassava , rice and potatoes . In addition to the collections of local species, there were tropical species that were added through swaps with other botanical gardens around the world ( Eala , Bogor , Peradeniya , Rio de Janeiro ).
In the first collection catalog from 1909 600 plant species and varieties are listed, in the second catalog from 1913 1000 species are listed. In the last edition of the catalog from 1927 there are 1775 species and varieties that are cultivated in Kisantu.
Since the independence of the Congo
The Botanical Garden, which had reached its scientific height between 1958 and 1960, was opened to tourism in 1972. A sightseeing route and overnight accommodations were laid out, and a 125 hectare savannah area was attached to the 100 hectare garden. From 1976, when the last Belgian director left the Botanical Garden in the course of Africanization , scientific research was neglected. As a result, the garden lacked the most basic resources needed to manage the collections. Even so, the number of tourists visiting the garden grew. The Jesuits finally handed the area over to the Congolese state , which established the management of the Institute for Zoological and Botanical Gardens of the Congo, founded in 1978.
In the mid-1990s, the garden, whose collections were still poorly maintained, included a palm garden with 105 species, an arboretum with 200 Congolese trees, a greenhouse with 147 succulents and an orchid collection. Hopes for better times came through a new appreciation of the environment that was developing in Africa, as well as the support of international organizations such as the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources , the WWF and the Botanic Gardens Conservation International . During the rebellion against Mobutu Sese Seko in 1997, however, the botanical garden was looted and the rebel army settled on its grounds.
Restoration of the garden
In August 2004, a contract was signed between the Meise Botanical Garden and the WWF, which aimed to renovate the Kisantu Botanical Garden. During the first phase of this EU- funded program, the succulent greenhouse was restored three years later and several buildings were renovated to improve housing options, thus providing educational opportunities for the botanical garden and raising public awareness of nature conservation. The dam that provided the garden with water and was destroyed by floods was rebuilt. In 2011 the botanical garden regained its splendor and was handed over to the Congolese Institute for Nature Conservation, which is also responsible for the Congolese national parks.
Today the Kisantu Botanical Garden is one of the tourist attractions of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and is home to 2200 species on 225 hectares.
literature
- Emile De Wildeman, J. Gillet et le jardin d'essai de Kisantu , Brussels, 1946.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Walter Robyns: Gillet (Justin), Frère de la Compagnie de Jésus Biographie Coloniale Belge, 1955, pages 337-342 ( French ).
- ↑ R. de Laminne de Bex: Le Jardin Gillet, Kisantu, République démocratique du Congo , Kisantu 1969, p. 15
- ↑ Égide Pâque: Plantes cultivées par le Frère Just. Gillet, S. J., dans les jardins de Kisantu (Mission Bergeyck St-Ignace, Congo Belge) 1899-1909 . Louvain 1909.
- Jump up ↑ Justin Gillet: Jardin d'Essais de Kisantu (Congo Belge): Plantes Introduites & Cultivées 1899-1913 . Bruxelles 1913.
- ^ Justin Gillet: Catalog des plantes du Jardin d'Essais de la Mission de Kisantu (Congo Belge) . Bruxelles 1927.
- ↑ Kibungu Kembelo: Rôles des jardins botaniques en République du Zaïre ( French ).
- ↑ Kibungu Kembelo: The Botanical Gardens of Zaire and the Present State of Biodiversity in Zaire ( Memento of the original from October 7, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ( english )
- ^ Jean Paul Makengo: Le Jardin botanique de Kisantu . Report from November 17, 2018 on www.journaldekisantu.com ( French ).
- ↑ Digitalcongo.net: Jardin botanique de Kisantu réhabilité ( Memento of the original from April 5, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ( french )
- ↑ Thierry Bodson: Le Jardin botanique de Kisantu (French)
- ↑ ICCN ( Memento of the original from November 4, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ( french )
Coordinates: 5 ° 8 ′ 0 ″ S , 15 ° 6 ′ 0 ″ E