RMCA publications

Nature and Culture in the Democratic Republic of Congo is published on the occasion of the exhibition entitled Congo – Nature and Culture in the Democratic Republic of Congo at UNESCO headquarters in Paris, from 10 to 26 September 2004, and Congo, Nature and Culture at the Royal Museum for Central Africa in Tervuren, from 23 November 2004 to 9 October 2005, under the auspices of His Majesty King Albert II.

In Paris, the exhibition took place in the framework of an international UNESCO donor conference to further support the five Congolese World Heritage sites: the Salonga, Virunga, Garamba, and Kahuzi-Biega national parks, and the Okapi Wildlife Reserve.

Photographs and maps richly illustrate the themes of the exhibition: biodiversity and diversity in the economic and symbolic use of nature, which also provides medicine and food. Knowledge about the exceptional natural diversity is also expressed by the more than 200 languages spoken in the DRC. Five Congolese authors have contributed articles on nature preservation, poaching, sacred forests, medicinal plants, and languages.

With this catalogue and the exhibition, the Royal Museum for Central Africa aims to bring attention to nature, material and immaterial culture, and the link between these in the vast country that is currently suffering from wars and their destructive consequences. The RMCA also wishes to emphasize that its historical collections and the current research being carried out at the RMCA pertaining to these collections in the natural and human sciences can contribute to the sustainable development of this extremely divers country.