Exploitation of Natural Resources in the Forest Ecosystems of the hinterlands of the city of Kikwit :

This study focused on the exploitation of natural resources in the forest ecosystems surrounding the town of Bandundu. The main objective was to assess the impact of human activities on these ecosystems, with a view to ensuring the supply of forest products to the town.To achieve this, three methodological approaches were used: documentation, survey and data analysis. Surveys of forestry operators, from June to August 2020, for the collection of data, were carried out on the basis of a survey form, on the roads leading to the forests that were the subject of this study. A sample of three hundred operators, of which one hundred for each forest axis studied, was interviewed.The total dependence of loggers on forest resources, their high frequency of use in the field, the development of conflicts of ownership and exploitation, the regression of productivity as well as the total absence of control by forest managers are all factors that confirm the progressive loss of the ecological, social and economic functions of the peri-urban forests of Bandundu.