Neuron Expedition Dzamba Ya Lobi 2019

The expedition is heading for one of the last wildernesses of Africa — the gradually opening rainforests on the border of Congo and Gabon. The aim is to map the endangered populations of elephants, gorillas and other large mammals in areas both with and without protection, to verify the state of the wildlife corridors and to specify the threats to nature and to the people there.

LATEST: the expedition team has arrived in Congo! Arthur Sniegon writes: "The whole team arrived safely and even all the equipment made it through customs! Now we are arranging the necessary permits." We are hugely pleased and are keeping our fingers crossed for the months ahead!

What awaits the team of the Neuron Expedition Dzamba ya lobi in the coming weeks? Revisit the aim of the expedition in Tomáš Jůnek's talk at the debate Neuron Expedition — on the road to discoveries, at CAMP in Prague.

As the rainforests are gradually opened up, the fauna of central Africa is dying out. Finding a sustainable balance between the functioning of local communities and the survival of wild animals is one of the most fundamental challenges for conservationists and scientists there. Systematic research into animal communities in rainforests generally takes place in protected areas, which are, however, only a fraction of the total area of forest designated for logging. If the logging is selective, even the remaining forest can serve as a valuable habitat or wildlife corridor. The mechanisms by which large animal species survive in such an environment, with its roads, settlements, plantations, mines and so on, are not fully known — and on top of that under intense pressure from hunters. We will therefore focus on both protected and unprotected areas; our results will bring insight into species richness, relative abundance and the mechanisms of the spatial and temporal distribution of ground fauna. We will join regional genetic research into gorillas and elephants in order to map the routes of illegal ivory. Our results will serve specific bodies responsible for eliminating illegal activities, above all poaching.

What they wrote about them:

Dzamba ya lobi is starting — Tomáš Jůnek, Arthur Sniegon (Czech Radio Radiožurnál, 7 August 2019)
The Dzamba ya Lobi expedition is starting — Tomáš Jůnek (ČT 2, Dobré ráno, 29 July 2019)
Saving the African wilderness — Arthur Sniegon (ČT Studio 6, 36:36 — 11 July 2019)
An expedition into the African wilderness — Arthur Sniegon (ČT 24 — News, 16:10, 6 July 2019)
Czech zoologists are saving African rainforests — Arthur Sniegon, Tomáš Jůnek (ČT — Události, komentáře — 18 June 2019)
The African wilderness is disappearing. Loggers have destroyed the forests, gorilla is a delicacy, a zoologist warns — Tomáš Jůnek (aktualne.cz — 8 June 2019)
Saving large African animals and glaciers — Tomáš Jůnek, Marie Šabacká (ČT — Studio 6, 14 May 2019)
In West Africa you will no longer meet giraffes in the wild — Tomáš Jůnek (ihned.cz — 11 May 2019)
Czechs are heading into the forests of Congo to look for dying species — Tomáš Jůnek (Hospodářské noviny, p. 3, 10 May 2019)
The heart of an elephant — Arthur Sniegon (Reportér, p. 72, 5 May 2019)