Routing equipment for super-sites

This equipment has been carefully selected to support the field teams in their work on the super-sites in Cameroon (Mbalmayo and Bouamir) and Congo (Loundoungou) as part of Pillar 1 activities. The main items transported include :

• Camping equipment, generators and measuring equipment for vegetation inventories;
• Laboratory ovens;
• Computer equipment for storing and processing all types of data;
• Safety equipment, i.e. fireproof cabinets to secure battery storage.

One of the most remarkable pieces of equipment in this delivery is a LiDAR drone, a cutting-edge tool for geomatics research in the Republic of Congo. The drone will be used to carry out highly detailed topographical surveys using LiDAR technology, which is essential for studying forest ecosystems and biodiversity.

In addition, a high-level weather station has been delivered to complete the scientific installations initiated by Nathalie Philippon (CNRS) at Pillar 2. This equipment will enable valuable climate data to be collected for a better understanding of the interactions between climate and ecosystems.

Some of the equipment was handed over at the École Normale Supérieure de Mbalmayo (ENEF), in the presence of Hugo Leblanc (IRD) from Pillar 1, and Colonel Danièle Bikie Mindang from Eaux et Forêts, a teacher at the ENEF and head of the geomatics centre (photo).

The Somalomo site, managed by the Congo Basin Institute (CBI) and the Ministry of Forests and Fauna (MINFOF), and the Laboratory of Systematic Botany and Ecology (LaboSystE, ENS, University of Yaoundé I) have also been provided with high-quality equipment to support their field activities.

In mid-March, a laboratory for measuring functional plant traits will be equipped on the CIB-Olam premises in Congo (Loundoungou site).

This equipment handover follows a process of close collaboration between the various scientific players involved. Although the equipment is currently the property of the purchasing organisations (IRD, CIRAD and CNRS), this is an essential step in strengthening research capacity and ecosystem management in these strategic areas.