The Mabali Center was established by Prince Charles of Belgium as one of 5 research institutes founded in 1947 under the Institute for Scientific Research in Central Africa (IRSAC). The institute was founded to promote basic scientific research in a number of domains in the Belgian Congo. Each regional center was established with a specific research focus; Mabali was originally established as the botanical research institute. IRSAC researchers in the human sciences also undertook research into linguistics, social anthropology, physical anthropology, pre-history, ethno-musicology and ethno-history. The center is currently headquarters for the Centre de Recherche en Ecologie et Forestrie, the official scientific research arm of the DRC government under the Ministry of Science and Research.

The Mabali Center is composed of a large three story building with a scientific lab, 7 villas, workshops, and 3 camps.

In addition to being an important scientific research center, Mabali was also formerly the camp of King Leopold the Third, who had a strong interest in social anthropology. Mabali's unique history sets it apart from other research institutes in Africa.

The center has been carefully maintained by CREF in spite of limited support, and is like a set piece out of time, with carved balustrades, doorways and ceiling beams, and racks of half century old specimen jars. CREF still maintains a weather station and takes readings 6 times a day with equipment from the 1940s, and may have important information to contribute to global warming databases.

The Mabali Scientific Reserve has a variety of species of monkeys, some habituated so that they enter huts of the local people. The Center sits on a bluff overlooking Lac Tumba where the ever present mild breeze keeps insect pests down to minimum. The setting has great potetial for eco-tourism, and may provide the first ever base from which eco-tours to bonobo sites can be mounted.

BCI's recent visit to Mabali was greeted with great celebration by local villagers as BCI was the first western research team to visit since 1972, and has been virtually the only western organization providing ongoing capacity building and support to CREF over the years.

The Mabali Center is an amazing hidden gem, not just for its history and physical attributes, but for the fact that it is home to over 100 CREF staff, people who have dedicated their lives to scientific research and conservation, and provide an incredible pool of talent and resources. Up until now, BCI has been alone in its mission to build CREF capacity. In the near future, The World Wildlife Fund will provide some support and assistance through the Congo Basin Forest Partnership. This will be greatly appreciated and will be very helpful; however support will be limited and we now need to address critical issues in the region.

There is an immediate threat from logging interests targeting some of the last remaining refuges for bonobos in the Lac Tumba area. Bushmeat hunting, at an almost industrial scale is having a devastating impact. Immediate support is needed for bonobo and bushmeat monitoring programs as well as education programs and materials to inform the local population of their rights under the new DRC Code Forestrie, so they might stand up to logging interests.

Please help BCI continue its support of CREF and the local populations in and around the Mabali Scientific Reserve. [Click]